Secrets in the Woods of California
by Colette Amelia
Summary: #2 in the California Supernaturals trilogy (sequel to Secrets on the Shore of California). Outside her family, Jet is the only other shapeshifter Marina knows. What happens when all that changes? Are these newcomers friend or foe? Or is there an even deadlier enemy lurking in the trees that could make Marina's worst nightmares come to life? Bella is only a minor character.
1. Odd Pairings

The sun was still high in the sky by the time I was able to run back inside and grab my bag. I had to wait outside with this one kid until his parents showed up at six o' clock the past couple nights. Camp ends at four. My shift usually ends at four-twenty, which is how long it takes for the parents to pick up their kids. I checked the clock on my cell phone—it was four-twenty on the dot. Perfect. The last day and I was finally able to leave on time again.

I walked down the dirt path that led to the camp entrance. My mom was supposed to pick me up there. Because the camp only had a limited amount of land, the owners chose to build a giant ropes course instead of a parking lot for the staff. So, all the counselors had to arrange rides back and forth to work each day. It was a big pain in the butt. My mom didn't like it either. She had to rush over from work every day just to pick me up. I was sure that she would be just as happy as I was for my last day to have finally arrived. Had there not been so many people in the area I wouldn't have to get I ride, I could have simply run home, but, because basically the entire town sent their kids to this camp, the possibilities of me being seen by someone were too great to risk.

I rounded the corner and expected to see my mom's minivan in the line of cars but it wasn't there. I scanned the line of cars again and my eyes fell on the very last car in the line. It was a bright red, four-door Jeep and in the driver's seat sat a 16-year-old boy with very dark hair and green eyes more gorgeous than the world's most precious emerald. Oh, and he was _super_ hot—like flawless face, make your cheeks burn when his shirt's off hot—but I'm biased. A smile that I couldn't stop, even if I tried, crept onto my face. I power-walked to the end of the line, opened the passenger door, and hopped in my red Jeep.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to get into cars with strangers?" The boy asked, smiling mischievously at me.

"What if that stranger stole my car?" I asked innocently.

He frowned. "What would you say if it was all part of the stranger's plan to get you to trust him."

I pretended to consider his explanation. "Well," I said, turning to face him, "then I'd say it was working."

He leaned in close to me. "Excellent." Then he gave me a soft, lingering, romantic kiss.

I pulled away and smiled at my best friend turned boyfriend. "You know, I don't think anyone is going to believe we're strangers after something like that."

"Hmm, you're right. Maybe that was too much?"

I shook my head. "Too little." I leaned in for another kiss.

"Marina, that is not being a good role model."

I turned to see my boss standing only few feet away glaring at me. I just smiled at her. I hated her. I hated her from the first moment I met her at the very beginning of the summer when she criticized me for wearing a low cut shirt during orientation—when there were no kids around. And she was still criticizing me, even when I no longer worked for her.

When she walked away, I turned back to him. "Is it bad that I am actually looking forward to school on Monday just because I won't have to see her devil face?"

He just laughed and pulled away from the most hellish camp I ever had the pleasure of being a part of.

John Holten, or Jet, as I like to call him, have been friends ever since he moved to California when we were in seventh grade. It was just last spring that we finally admitted our true feelings for each other—well, he did anyway—and started dating. Before that I had been convinced that he liked my friend Bella, which hadn't been true at all.

Jet's eyes glanced over in my direction. "How about we swing by your place, drop off the Jeep and then go for a run?"

I nodded. "Sounds good to me."

When we got to my house we immediately walked out back and began taking off our clothes. Now, before you get any awful ideas that would send your mind to the dumpster, you should know that Jet and I are shapeshifters. Yup, you read that right. Shapeshifters. We, along with the rest of my family except for my mom, can each turn into a different animal. Well, I can turn into two animals—a gray wolf and a bottlenose dolphin—which is actually really rare, but that doesn't matter right now. When it comes to everyone else, my dad turns into a mountain lion, my older brother, Cole, a tiger, my younger sister, Skye, an owl, and Jet a black wolf. Once Jet and I found out that we were both shapeshifters (and both wolves), we basically started this after school tradition where we would shift and go for a run together through the forest. But over the summer we weren't able to keep that up. In fact, because I worked from 8am-4pm every weekday, and Jet usually got scheduled for the evening shift at the community pool (his good looks brought in a lot of teenage girls during those hours—but I wasn't worried, I knew he only had eyes for me), we didn't get a lot of chances to run together at all.

Once I slipped my underwear and bra off, I shifted into my wolf form. It brought me such relief. Maybe now that my job was over, things could finally get back to where I wanted them to be—which was Jet and I being able to spend almost all our time together.

I looked over to Jet and saw that he had already shifted into his beautiful, and yet powerful, black wolf. I knew what it was like to be on the other end of that iron jaw and those dagger teeth, and trust me, I felt sorry for anyone who found themselves in that position. I wouldn't mess with him—okay, so maybe I like messing with him, but I know he would never hurt me. Unless, of course, it was the only way to stop me from revealing the fact that I am a shapeshifter to the world and killing all my friends like what happened last spring when I accidentally put myself under the control of an evil, power-hungry siren—which, I thought was totally an acceptable thing to do. Besides, the wound healed once I shifted back into my human form.

Jet bowed his black head—offering to let me lead the way. With that, I took off without another thought. I zigzagged through the trees, listening for the padding of footsteps behind me. When they got close I sped up—the different colored bark on the trees all blending into one. Then I could no longer hear him behind me. For a minute I thought I had actually lost him—that I had beat him at his own game—but no. As soon as I slow down to see if I can find him (or smell him), he darts by me with his tongue stuck out. I growl and race after him again. Why do I always fall for his stupid tricks? No matter, there is still one way I know I can get him. I push my legs to run faster, until I am practically running on top of him. Then I lean my head down and start nipping at his ankles. He expects it of course—it is the only strategy I ever use. He tries to shake me off but fails and I nibble at his ankles again. Then he takes a dive, tumbling out into a wildflower meadow.

I stop beside him and sit down—admiring the golden field. I hadn't been here since I was a little girl, and honestly, I had forgotten where to find it. Next to me, Jet stood up, but, I could tell from his stance that something was wrong. I sniffed the air. Turning my head, I looked out across the meadow—there was something coming out of the trees on the other side, and it was big and unfamiliar. I braced myself for a bear or something along those lines. What I didn't expect to see was a stag. The deer's coat was brown with bits of red that shined through in the sunlight. Oh, and its antlers? They were huge, and probably very pointy. Despite this, I relaxed a bit—the deer didn't look like he wanted to attack.

Then suddenly, Jet let out a slow growl. I nudged him to get him to stop—we didn't want this stag trying to ram us. But then I saw what he did. Behind the stag emerged another creature. This animal was a fox and walked right up to and then underneath the deer. The deer didn't even move. The deer didn't do anything to the fox.

This time both Jet and I growled at the two animals. They looked at us, but neither of them seemed to care that there were two wolves standing on the other side of the meadow snarling at them. Instead, the fox turned to the right to go back into the trees and the stag promptly followed it.

I was stunned. Since when were deer and foxes friends? Since when did they follow one another around? Because, if there was one thing I knew, it was that what we just saw was not normal animal behavior.


	2. Competition

First day of school. Again. The same things happen on this day every year—you meet your teachers, they make the class do some kind of "get-to-know-you" activity (even though you already know basically all the kids in your graduating class after being in school with most of them for the past ten plus years), and then they start telling you about how much fun you're going to have doing the work they assign over the year. It's really quite monotonous. And yet, for some odd reason, everyone places this hype around the first day of school and then they fall for it—every time. And then when you get to the third or even second day of school and realize you actually have work to do, you wonder how you could have ever been excited for school to start. Yes, I admit, that I fall for it every year too, but at least I realized that the enthusiasm wasn't going to last.

However, this time, I was slightly less excited than my peers for our junior year to begin. And that was because this year, I only had one class with Jet. Call me mushy, call me obsessed, but after spending most of the summer apart, I had been hoping to be able to see him a lot during school. We were both disappointed when we got our schedules and discovered that the only time we would get to see each other (aside from lunch) was during Pre-Calculus—one of the few classes I actually had to pay attention in. I was still shocked that I managed to pass Algebra last year.

On a brighter side I did have three classes with Bella again—AP Language, AP European History, and Physics. I was sure Bella would kick my butt in AP Lang, but she would need me for AP Euro. Bella told me last year that because she has lived all over the world, moving to a new country almost every year, it got a little hard to keep the histories of each straight. And it would be nice to not have to worry about water spilling in science class anymore. I was pretty sure the labs in Physics wouldn't involve the liquids Chem. did.

I closed my locker door just as the warning bell rang. My first class was AP Lang and I didn't have Pre-Calc until after lunch. I wondered how I ever survived every morning last year without seeing Jet.

"I'll see you at lunch," he said then gave me a small kiss on the cheek, "See you later, Bella." He turned and walked in the opposite direction—heading for the science hall. Bella and I walked to our AP Lang classroom together.

"So, what do you know about this Mrs. Becker?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I heard she's tough but fair."

Bella nodded. "That's good, I guess."

When we walked in the classroom, Bella and I both took seats next to each other in the third row and sat down. There were some kids in the class that I was friendly with and the rest I recognized from other classes over the years. All around us people were talking—discussing their summers and their class schedules—their voices filling the room. I reached down to take a notebook out of my bag when a hush fell over the room. I was almost afraid to look up. I knew it wasn't Mrs. Becker who had walked through the door—not even the presence of the strictest teacher in the world could have quieted a classroom of sixteen and seventeen year olds that fast.

The person who had stopped in the doorway began walking towards the desks and whispers immediately ensued. All around me I heard the fervent whispers of my classmates.

"Who's that?"

"Ohmigod."

"He's _so_ hot."

Whoever he was, his footsteps were awfully loud. He must have some pretty big feet to make sure vociferous footsteps. Maybe it was just the predator of the wolf inside me, but I hated it when people couldn't keep their movements quiet. I had finally managed to find a pen when Bella leaned over.

"Wow," she whispered, "he is—"

But she cut off before I had to chance to discover just what this new kid was in Bella's opinion. The reason why hadn't escaped my notice—the boy's loud footsteps had stopped—right beside my desk. I sat up in my chair and looked over at this supposedly super hot new boy. I mean, I really couldn't avoid it any longer. And I had to admit that my classmates were right—this kid was extremely good-looking. On a hotness scale this kid would be right up there with Jet—not quite at the level Jet is—but still up there.

"Hi," the kid said, flashing me a smile that probably would have won the heart of any other girl in the room—heck any other girl in the school—but not me, because I had Jet. "I'm Brad."

"Marina," I said, acknowledging him and then turning to face the front where Mrs. Becker was now standing. Even thought I was focusing on what our teacher was saying, I could still see out of the corner of my eye that Brad was watching me. Well, more like studying me. He seemed…intrigued. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I didn't need some new kid interested in me—not that I would be tempted his hotness—as I said many times before, I had Jet who was like "God-of-gorgeousness" hot. But Brad was a different kind of hot. He was like "all-American surfer" hot. He had blonde hair, just long enough to cover the tips of his ears and the tops of his eyebrows, and these starling blue eyes that reminded me more of falling icicles than a robin's egg or the ocean. The color gave me a feeling of uncertainty, even though I had no reason to feel that way.

I forgot about Brad and focused on Mrs. Becker. She had already gone through the reading list for the year and was talking about how the class was going to prep for the AP test later in the year. The class seemed intense and Mrs. Becker sounded strict. But, she had told them that if they do their work, pay attention, and put forth the effort they should do fine.

"Psst."

I glanced in Brad's direction then up to the front of the classroom again.

"Hey, Marina is it?" he asked.

I just glanced at him again.

"I was wondering what you guys did for fun around here."

Fun? It was the first day of school, the very first class. We weren't even ten minutes into it, and he wanted to know what we did outside of school? Umm, I run through the woods with my shapeshifter boyfriend and go swimming in the ocean with my mermaid friend. Yeah, not going to tell him that.

I leaned over the aisle and whispered, "Well, we have a mall. And the public beaches are close by."

"Yeah, I know about those. But do you ever do anything really thrilling?"

I frowned at him—incredulous. What was he getting at? "Umm, there's an amusement park two towns over…"

"Marina!" Mrs. Becker called out my name (how she already knew it I didn't know) and my attention immediately snapped to the front, while the class's attention snapped to me. "You may think that your next date is more important than the AP Language test, but I do not. Now pay attention."

My face turned beet red. I couldn't see the color of course, but I knew. I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks. Thankfully, Mrs. Becker didn't wait for me to respond but jumped right back into her introduction lecture. Once her back was turned I looked over at Brad again, but he didn't look at me. He just stared at Mrs. Becker, apparently listening intently to her every word—the perfect picture of innocence. But he wasn't innocent. It was his fault that I had gotten in trouble. And on the first day too! Great, one class and already, thanks to Brad, I wasn't off to good start.

I ignored Brad for the remainder of the period, and the period after that…_and_ the period after that—because it would be just my luck that we would have three classes in a row together. When third period was over, I rushed out of the classroom as fast as I could—afraid that he might try to talk to me again.

But it seemed that I couldn't escape Brad. When I stopped by my locker to grab my lunch and the things I would need for the afternoon, there were three girls (they looked like sophomores) talking about Brad. I learned last year when Jet and I started going out that word spreads a hell of a lot faster than wildfire in this school.

"I think Brad is just as hot as John," the blonde said.

The brunette shook her head. "John is still hotter than Brad, but Brad has something that John doesn't."

"What's that?" the third girl asked.

"Availability," the brunette answered, smiling. Her two friends agreed and then shot a look at me. I pretended not to be listening to their conversation. I quickly shut my locker door and headed for the courtyard.

I easily found Bella and my other friends Annie, Grace, and Connor sitting at a table. Jet and Tommy were probably in the lunch line inside. Because we were juniors, and _upperclassmen_ now, we had a right to a table in the shade. No more sweating under the hot sun. I slid in my usual seat, next to Bella and got out my lunch. We talked about our classes and what we thought of them, complaining about the amount of work we already had. It finally felt good to be back to normal.

"Hey guys!"

I turned to see Brad holding a tray, standing behind me. He put his leg over the bench and slid in the open seat next to me—Jet's seat.

"I'm Brad," he said, smiling at each of my friends, "Marina invited me to sit with you." He smiled at me.

I most certainly did not.

"I hope you don't mind."

"We don't mind!"

"Oh, not at all!"

"No!"

Bella, Grace and Annie all said at the same time.

Brad smiled even wider. "Great."

No, not great. It was at that moment that I noticed Jet and Tommy walking over to the table together. Jet was supposed to sit next to me. Everyone at our table knew that. But stupid Brad had stolen his spot. He wasn't even welcome here. Well, he wasn't welcomed by me. Jet gave me a confused look when he approached the table, but sat down beside Annie and Tommy—in the furthest possible seat from me. I shrugged, trying to tell him that there was nothing I could do. He nodded and then turned towards the conversation—a conversation that Brad had started.

This was the worst first day ever.


	3. Testing

My dad used to test us when we were young. The physical, mental, and emotional exercises started once we first shifted. Skye and I watched him train Cole from my bedroom window almost every night for a month. I couldn't wait until the day when that was me out there. I even kept the window open during Cole's training sessions so I could hear what my dad was telling him. Then, once my mom came in to put Skye to bed, I would do everything that my dad told Cole to do during his training. At six years old, I was determined to become the best shapeshifter possible. I got my wish a year later when I first turned into a wolf. I didn't think I could ever be happier—well, until the day Jet kissed me for the first time.

Having constantly eavesdropped on Cole's training sessions, I eased through the physical part of my own training. Even then, before I discovered I could turn into a dolphin too, I knew that I was meant to be a shapeshifter. No matter what I did or what situation my dad put me in, my wolf body felt just as normal and natural as my human body. It wasn't until two years later, once Skye had completed her physical training, that my dad did something I never expected. It was the biggest mental and emotional test imaginable. He hadn't done it while Cole was training and he hadn't done it while I was training. When I asked him why, he told me that he needed for all of us to complete our physical training first.

"But Daddy," I whined (like a typical nine-year-old), "I don't want to go on some stupid camping trip."

"We're all going," my dad said dismissively.

"Mom's not going," Cole pointed out as he pulled another granola bar out of the cabinet.

"Why can't I stay home with Mommy?"

"Because we're all going," my dad said again.

"But I am going to miss Hailey's birthday party!" I stomped my foot.

"Marina!" my dad raised his voice warningly, "This is more important than a birthday party."

"But—"

"No buts," my dad shook his head, "you're going."

I huffed and puffed and stomped my feet all the way up to my room but it didn't make a difference. Hours later, I found myself hiking—in my human form—through the woods with my dad, my brother and my sister. We did all the normal camping things—we hiked to a campsite, we set up camp, we even built a fire—but, little did I know that, it wasn't a normal camping trip.

"What did you bring for dinner, Dad?" Cole asked. Skye and I looked at him expectantly.

"I didn't," he answered calmly.

"What are we doing for dinner?" I asked.

"You have to go out and find it."

Cole, Skye and I were all frowning. We didn't understand.

"I want you to hunt for your dinner," he said.

None of us said anything. We didn't believe him. Sure, we could change our bodies to look like an animal, but that didn't make us animals. And we never expected our dad to want us to act like some.

"Why?" Skye asked.

"Because you need to learn to be convincing wild animals. You may know that you aren't real animals but no one else can know that."

It was for that reason that Cole and I found ourselves wandering the woods, while Skye flew above us, searching for some poor, small animal we could call our dinner. The trees were silent as my brother and I crept forward with care. We knew this would be difficult enough without scaring away every animal with every footstep. I wanted to ask Cole if he was scared—if he was really okay with killing an animal—but I didn't. Then there was a rustle in the bushes to our left and Cole jumped at it. He took off after something, leaving me standing there alone. I looked up but Skye had disappeared too. I tentatively took another step forward. I knew I had to do this on my own. I continued through the woods under the light of the moon, pausing and sniffing the air at every small movement or sound. As I creeped forward one sound remained constant—the steady rush of a stream. I walked until the small stream came into view. Maybe I could get off easy by catching some fish—if any passed by and I managed to see them at night. I stepped up to the edge of the water and looked down. I didn't see any fish.

A sound to my right made me snap my head up and freeze. A man dressed in camouflage, including a hat and night vision goggles, stepped out of the brush. My heart was beating a mile a minute—even before I saw the gun. There was a large rifle in his hands, and, before I could react, he lifted it and pointed it at me. He was a hunter and I was his biggest prize. There was no doubt in my mind that he would kill the small wolf in front of him. But I also knew that if I were to shift back into human form he would not—probably could not—kill me. Shifting would save my life but it would also expose shapeshifters and place my family in harm.

The sound of the gun clicking woke me from my thoughts. I may not be able to shift and save my life that way but there were still other ways I could survive this. The first one that came to mind was to run. But before I could even position my feet into a running stance, a bullet whizzed by my ear and splashed in the stream behind me. I froze. I knew that the hunter in front of me had a gun, but for some reason I didn't think he would actually fire it. But he did, because he thought I was a wild animal, not a nine-year-old little girl. If he was going to treat me like a wild animal then I had to act like one. This was exactly what Daddy had been talking about. I had to make sure that this hunter never suspected that I was anything other a wolf.

I growled at the man that stood before me. The sound foreign and unnatural to me. I had hoped to intimidate him but he just smiled at me. He had t he advantage and he knew it. And any minute he was going to use that advantage. Then, the hunter did something that I didn't expect. He lowered his gun. Had my growl actually sounded more ferocious than I thought? But then he lifted his hands to his head and pulled off the night vision goggles. And I shifted back into my human form, because I recognized the man.

"Daddy?" I whispered, still shocked that he was the hunter—that he was the man who shot at me.

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry," my dad said and pulled me into a hug.

"Why did you do that?"

"I had to make sure you wouldn't reveal yourself, even if your life was in danger," he said, "and you didn't. You performed better than I could have possibly hoped. I am so proud of you."

I didn't say anything—I couldn't—all I could do was hug him. He smoothed the hair at the top of my head and kissed me.

"Come on," he said, pulling back, "let's go back to the campsite." I followed him back through the woods to the area we had set up our supplies. Cole and Skye were already there waiting for us. I could tell from the looks on their faces that Daddy had done the same thing to them that he did to me. This camping trip had definitely been about testing us and nothing else. I just wondered if we were done yet.


	4. Good Aim

After lunch I headed straight to the girls' locker room for gym. But the gym teachers hadn't unlocked the locker room yet so, anyone who was there was forced to sit and wait outside in the hall. I had Pre-Calc with Jet last period and I couldn't wait for the end of the day. Sliding my back against the wall, I sat down, placing my bag with all my new notebooks and folders beside me.

"Hey."

It was the absolute last voice I wanted to hear.

"Four classes together? What are the odds?"

Trying to get rid of the grimace on my face, I looked up at Brad. He was smiling down at me like he was my best friend—like he wasn't someone who had just lied to all my friends.

"I never invited you to sit with us," I said. I don't know why I said it—maybe it was my frustration and annoyance with him—but I didn't regret it.

If he was surprised by my comment, he didn't show it. "But you should have," he said.

I couldn't contain my surprise at his remark. Had he really just said that? Arrogant much?

When I didn't say anything, he continued, "I'm the new kid. It would have been the right thing to do to invite me to sit with you and your friends at lunch. I made you look like a better person in front of them by telling them you did that."

A better person? He had actually convinced himself that he had lied for my benefit? I was speechless. I couldn't believe this guy was for real. The gym teacher had arrived, unlocking the locker room door. I narrowed my eyes at him and gathered my things to head inside. I didn't think I had ever been as happy as I was when I was able to turn my back to Brad (even if it was only for a few minutes) and walk into the girls' locker room.

Grace, who thankfully had gym the same period as I did, walked up behind me. We both picked up a lock out of the box on the side and chose lockers next to each other.

"So," she said, opening a metal door, "what's up with you and Brad?" Grace can sometimes be what people would call a busy-body. She is the queen of gossip and always makes a point of what is going on in the high school.

I groaned. I couldn't help it. Usually, I didn't mind Grace's questions, but I did today—solely because she had chosen to include Brad. "Nothing," I spat.

"Woah," she said, "Doesn't sound like nothing to me. He's really gotten under your skin, hasn't he?"

I nodded but didn't answer her. I pulled out the gym clothes I brought and started to get dressed as Grace did the same. We were silent for the next few minutes as we got dressed.

"I think he likes you," Grace said innocently as she shut her locker door.

"What?" I burst out—a bit louder than necessary—receiving more than few strange looks from my surrounding peers.

"I think he likes you," she repeated.

"He just met me," I pointed out.

"Sometimes it only takes one look." Grace shrugged.

"Yeah, and that look told me I don't like him," I said, "Besides, I already have a boyfriend, remember?"

"I know that," she replied, "but Brad doesn't."

She had a point. Maybe if I told Brad that Jet was my boyfriend, he would back off a bit. I already felt like I was suffocating from the amount of Brad I had gotten today. The only time I _didn't_ see him had been in the parking lot this morning.

I followed Grace out of the locker room, savoring what I knew would be my last few remaining seconds of peace but I had to face Brad again. I honestly didn't know what was wrong with me. It wasn't like I had never dealt with hot guys before—I mean, come on, I'm dating Jet, and I was best friends with him for years before that. But, I realized as I noticed Brad walking towards me from the opposite side of the gym, it wasn't his looks that bothered me so much—it was his attitude. He thought he was the coolest, the hottest, the best. He thought he knew everything. _He thought he knew me._ And it was for that reason and that reason alone, that Brad bothered me so much.

"So," he said, walking up to me, "you play any sports?" He looked down at my feet to match my pace. Or maybe he was just admiring my long, lean legs. I walked faster. But he easily caught up, not one step faltering.

"I have a boyfriend," I blurted out, not even realizing (until after I said it) that it was in no way an answer to his casual question. My cheeks burned in embarrassment.

"Umm, yeah. That guy John from lunch, right?" Brad said, staring at me.

I nodded. I was sure my cheeks turned an even darker shade of red. He already knew that Jet and I were together. So much for Grace's theory. Why won't he just leave me alone? "I don't," I said, looking away from him.

"You don't what?" He frowned.

"I don't play sports," I clarified.

"Oh." He seemed surprised. "Why not?"

I shrugged. "I tried track once in middle school but didn't like it." The truth was that running in circles on two legs wasn't nearly as fun as running on four in my wolf form. I quit after two days. "Why do you ask?"

It was his turn to shrug. "I just took you for the athletic type. You look—I mean, you're—you look in shape," he finally managed to say. It was the first time all day I had seen Brad uncomfortable. His discomfort made me smile.

"My brother was on the lacrosse team and I think my sister is trying out for the freshmen girls' soccer team. But I'm not really a big fan of organized sports. I like to do my own thing," I said.

"And what's that?" Brad asked, quickly recovering from his stumble on words.

Great. What was I going to say? It wasn't like I could openly tell me about my extracurricular activities. But then, the gym teacher, Mr. Douglas started talking and I was saved.

"Gather round everyone," Mr. Douglas said, "Today we are going to head out to the fields to get a jump start on our first unit."

"What is it?" someone from the back of the group called.

"Archery," Mr. Douglas replied, "Now follow me." We did as he instructed. Brad still walked beside me but thankfully didn't talk to me again.

Archery. I had never shot an arrow before. I had never shot anything before. I remembered Cole telling our parents about this gym unit when he went through it two years ago, but I didn't know anything about archery other than what Cole told me. I had seen cartoon characters and people on T.V. shoot arrows and it looked easy to them. But, then again, T.V. could make anything look easy.

When we got out to the field, Mr. Douglas explained the rules and showed us how to hold the bow and arrow. And then he demonstrated how to shoot. His arrow didn't hit the middle of the target—it was two rings out—but at least it hit the target.

Hitting the target was something I quickly realized was a lot harder than it looked. I shot three arrows—one fell a few feet in front of me, another shot out towards Brad's target to the right of me, and the third soared way over beyond my target and out of sight. Archery was definitely _not_ my thing.

I looked over to Brad's target. There were four arrows on it—all of them sitting nicely in the target's red center. I watched as Brad placed another arrow on his bow. His kept both his eyes open, staring straight ahead to his target. He arched his back and pulled the string of the bow towards him—the muscles in his bent arm tensing. He was completely focused. It was just him, the arrow and his target. He breathed in and when he let the breath out, he released the arrow with it—sending the arrow towards the target. It hit. I watched in awe as the fifth arrow sunk into the dead-center of the board, the previous ones surrounding it like points on a star.

I shuddered. I looked to Brad—the distinct expression of satisfaction on his face as he admired his perfect shot. I felt cold with dread and I unconsciously took a step away from him. It was like every nerve in my body was telling me to run like hell—to get away from Brad—and never look back. I shook my head, trying to clear it. Why would I need to run? I had no reason to be afraid of him. So he was good at archery? Big deal. He had probably already done it back in his old school—which, I realized, I didn't know where it was. I glanced between the target and Brad again. Once more, I felt shivers run up my spine.

I had been wrong earlier. There were two reasons why Brad bothered me. His ego was one.

His aim was the second.


	5. Origins

The orange flames emanating from the fire sent waves of heat rolling towards me, causing my cheeks to flush. Cole and Skye also sat around the fire, watching the flames try to reach the night sky. Cole had his arms wrapped around himself while Skye was holding her knees to her chest. Both of them seemed lost in their own thoughts. I wondered if what Daddy did was as scary for them as it was for me. Looking between the two of them, I was sure it had been. Cole was very obviously trying to be strong, but he rocked back and forth in his seat—something he always did when he was nervous. And Skye…Skye was only seven years old, a whole two years younger than me.

I would like to think that I could have handled this emotional test at that age, but I wasn't so sure. The truth was I wasn't even sure if I was handling it now. Sure, Daddy said I had passed—said I did better than he could have hoped for—but the fear I felt when he had pretended to be a hunter was still there. It spread through me like slithering snakes up my spine, making me turn my head at every small movement. I had practically jumped out of my seat (and skin) when Daddy dropped a canteen behind me. Meanwhile, Skye hadn't said a word since Daddy and I walked back into the campsite, and I could see that her eyes were still wet with tears. Had he actually shot at her like he did to me? I couldn't imagine that he would—she had only just started first grade, while I was in third.

Daddy cooked us hamburgers for dinner. It turned out that having us hunt for our own dinner had only been a way to get us out and separated in the woods. I didn't find out until later on that Cole had actually managed to catch a squirrel before Daddy showed up dressed in camouflage, carrying the rifle. Needless to say, that caused Cole to let the squirrel go. The squirrel had been the only animal smart enough to run away when a big man approached.

Daddy sat in front of the fire, moving the burgers around on the grate over the fire. The smell of the meat spiraled towards me, causing my stomach to quake in response. My body was hungry, but my mind couldn't really think about food. I was pretty sure I was still in shock. Daddy finished the burgers and placed one on a plate for each of us. He passed the plates so that we all had one on our laps in front of us. I looked down at my burger and then back up to the faces of my siblings. Both Cole and Skye were looking at their burgers like they couldn't believe what was in front of them was actually food. It seemed I wasn't the only one who was having a hard time doing something as simple as eating dinner. I looked over to Daddy—he had already finished half of his hamburger. Tentatively, I picked mine up and took a bite. It was firm and juicy—just the way I liked them. After that first bite, I didn't have any trouble taking more. I finished my burger in what I guessed was record timing (for a nine-year-old at least) and looked up at the rest of my family. Daddy had finished too and Cole and Skye had finally started eating.

Once we were all done, Daddy collected our plates. I was exhausted. I wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball in my sleeping bag and drift to sleep. I stood up and turned towards the direction of our tents.

"Marina, I need you to sit down."

"But Daddy," I whined, "I'm tired."

"Me too," Skye said, wiping her eyes.

"I have a story I would like to tell you before you go to bed," Daddy said, sitting back down around the fire as I did the same.

"Ooo!" Skye cooed, "A new bedtime story?" We never got new stories at bedtime. There seemed to be only about five that my parents knew. So, a story we hadn't heard before was definitely exciting. Even Cole perked up a bit at this information.

Daddy nodded. "And this one," he said, "I'm sure will have great importance to each of you."

"Why's that?" Cole asked, leaning in closer.

Daddy glanced at each of us before answering. "Because, it is the story of the very first shapeshifters."

I couldn't help it—I gasped. Daddy never told us anything about shapeshifters before, other than how we turn into our animal. We didn't know any other shapeshifters, nor did we know anything about shapeshifter history. Up until that moment I still wasn't convinced that there even were shapeshifters outside my family.

"The story starts a long, long time ago with a newly married couple," Daddy started, "The man was the leader of their tribe and the woman one of his most trusted advisors. The man and the woman loved each other very much and not long after they were married, the woman found out she was expecting a child. Months later the woman gave birth to a healthy and strong baby boy, whom the couple named Roe. The family lived happily with the rest of their tribe in the wilderness until the day they were attacked.

A ferocious bear, known by the tribes of the land as 'the beast', attacked the couple's tribe, destroying their camp and killing all of the brave warriors that dared to fight against it—all but the tribe leader. Just when the bear was about slash his claws through the tribe leader, a cry rang out in the air. It was the cry of the couple's infant child, Roe. Instead of striking and killing the man, the bear ran towards the baby. The woman threw herself in front of her child in attempts to protect him from 'the beast' but it was no use. The bear knocked her aside, stole Roe and ran off into the woods.

The couple was devastated. They had lost their only son to 'the beast'. The woman became determined to get Roe back. She believed he was still alive and wanted to rescue him from the clutches of the bear, but with all of the tribe's warriors dead they had no chance of defeating the infamous 'beast'.

That night, the woman prayed to God to give her and her husband a way to save their child. And the next morning, the couple discovered her prayers had been answered—they were each given the gift of the ability to turn into an animal. The woman was able to turn into an eagle while the man was able to turn into a bear.

Flying overhead, the woman was able to find 'the beast' and her son. Then, while the man fought the bear, the woman was able to grab Roe and fly away with him. The tribe leader returned with the news that he had at last conquered the ferocious 'beast'. The tribe rejoiced at the return of their leaders and heir."

"That's the story of the first shapeshifters?" I asked Daddy eagerly.

He smiled. "Now hold on there. I'm not quite finished. I haven't told you what happened after they rescued Roe." Daddy sighed and went back to the story, "After the couple rescued Roe they discovered that they retained their powers of shapeshifting. They used these powers to protect their tribe whenever necessary and were hailed as something less than gods. About a year after they saved their son from 'the beast', the woman found out that she was pregnant again. This time she had a baby girl, whom the couple called Luka. Years passed and Roe and Luka grew up side by side, both perfect pictures of health. Roe was everything that a future tribe leader should be. He was strong, confident, smart, and extremely skilled with a bow and arrow. His sister, Luka, was kind, humble, smart, beautiful, and, above all, loved by her tribe.

One day, when Roe and Luka were in their teens, the tribe was attacked once again—this time by a pack of wolves. Roe fought alongside his mother and father against the wolves. Seeing her family fight for their tribe, Luka wanted to help, but she had not been trained to fight as Roe had. However, she couldn't just sit by while her parents were about to be killed by the pack of wolves. She ran into the fight, and, to everyone's surprise, shifted into a wolf. As a wolf, Luka, was able to fight with her family. But her transformation wasn't enough. The wolves overpowered her mother and father and killed them both. Still fighting, Roe turned on Luka, believing her to be one of the wolves attacking the tribe. Desperate to get away and show her brother that she wasn't part of the attacking pack, Luka transformed into a graceful eagle, just as her mother had been able to do, and flew about the tribe. Together, Roe and Luka were then able to get the surviving wolves to retreat back into the woods.

When the tribe came together after the fight, Roe and Luka discovered that both their parents were dead. While both were stricken by grief, Roe was also angry. He was furious with the wolves that had attacked them and desperately wanted revenge. As the new tribe leader, he demanded that Luka shift into her eagle form and fly over the woods. He wanted her to find the remaining wolves and then relay their location to him so that they could kill the wolves. Luka did as Roe instructed, flying over the trees until she found where the wolves were hiding. But, she didn't only find the wolves that had attacked her tribe, she also found their pups. Seeing the wolves interact with their young reminded Luka of her own family.

When she returned to the tribe she refused to tell Roe where the wolves were. Roe was furious. He said that Luka was a traitor to their tribe and their family for not telling him where the wolves were. But still, Luka refused to reveal the wolves' location. Roe vowed that he would have his revenge with or without Luka's help. So, Roe took a group of men with his into the forest to find the wolves and Luka followed them overhead. When the group found the wolves, Roe attacked, instructing the group to do the same and to take no mercy. Seeing the ruthlessness of her brother, Luka fought on the side of the wolves—against her only remaining family and her people. Luka managed to protect the wolf pups from Roe and her tribe's warriors. She returned to the tribe's camp and told everyone what had happened. When Roe and the warriors made it back to the tribe, Roe went after Luka, claiming that Luka's ability to shift into two animals made her more animal than human and was what gave her the sympathy for the wolves that murdered their parents. The siblings fought until one of the tribe's elders came between them.

Roe demanded that Luka leave the tribe, and Luka agreed that it was for the best. But, half the tribe believed that Luka was right to protect the wolf pups. They decided to leave with Luka. The tribe split—half siding with Luka and the other half siding with Roe. Right before Luka left, Roe pulled her aside. He told her that she should sleep with her eyes open because he would hunt her down until the day he died. And he did. The two met many times after the tribe separated but neither was able to kill the other. When they passed their descendents continued the feud, Roe's children hunting Luka's children for generations after Roe and Luka died."

Daddy stopped talking.

"That's the end?" Cole asked. Daddy nodded. We were all silent as the impact of the story weighed down on us.

It wasn't the "happily ever after" bedtime story I expected.


	6. A Spy

_**This chapter was a request from **_**dirkgiles**_**. Sorry I didn't put a scene like this in my first story (I probably should have), but I hope this is what you were looking for! **_**:)**

I met Bella in the parking lot after school on Friday. Friday was our day to go swimming together. Before I met Bella, I would have to sneak around to go swimming in the ocean, but when Bella moved to town and I discovered that she was secretly a mermaid, it became a lot easier to get permission to go swimming. My dad didn't mind me going out in the ocean, as long as I didn't go alone. But, like I said, it wasn't like needing a friend ever stopped me before. And yet, having a friend with me tended to make the experience a whole lot better.

Climbing into the passenger seat beside me, Bella said, "Hey."

"Ready?" I asked her.

She nodded and smiled then waved to someone out the window. I leaned over to see who she was saying goodbye to. I couldn't help but scowl when I saw that it was Brad.

Bella looked over to me and frowned. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Oh, ah, nothing," I lied, "there's just a long line of cars to get out of here." I couldn't tell Bella about how much I hated Brad. He had only been in school with us for a few days but during that first week it became blatantly obvious that Bella liked Brad. The way she flirted with him during AP Lang and the way her face lit up every day during lunch when he chose to sit next to her (he thankfully realized that Jet was supposed to sit next to me), made it hard for me not to notice her feelings for Brad. Because she liked him, I couldn't exactly rant to her about how much he annoyed me. Instead, I had to be the supportive friend and answer questions like "do you think he likes me too", to which I am practically required to answer "definitely".

But this afternoon wasn't about Brad and Bella—it was about me and Bella. It was the start of a Brad-free weekend. First a swim with Bella and then later Jet had a romantic date planned for her.

I pulled my red Jeep out of the parking space and away from Brad—who I swear parked next to me this morning just to get on my nerves. When we finally got out of the school parking lot, I drove towards the beach. Beside me, Bella turned on the radio and started singing along to the latest hit song. I knew the song well—in fact, I knew every word—but I was a bit embarrassed to sing alongside Bella, who had an amazing voice.

Turning off the main road, my Jeep bumped and rattled along the unpaved one down to my secret beach. We passed the old painted rock and pulled to the side into a small alcove. Getting out of the car, Bella and I grabbed our beach towels from the back and headed down the hidden path to the secret beach. The beach was small but it didn't matter because it was secluded. I was sure that no one but Bella, Jet, Tommy, and I knew about it. On top of that it was also far away from the public beaches, so there was no chance of anyone accidentally seeing us in the water—well, unless I wanted them to see me of course.

While Bella placed our towels under a tree off to the side I undressed. I often envied Bella for not having to get completely naked to become a mermaid. But then again, Bella didn't have any control over when she changed—once she touched water, she grew a tail, unless of course she managed to dry off in time. Together we waded into the water and dove under the next wave—Bella's legs molding together to form her orange tail and I shifting into my dolphin form.

It was the perfect day for a swim. The sun was shining bright, illuminating the blue waters of the ocean below it, giving the waves above us an exhilarating energy that seeped into every creature in the water. The rays of the sun that came through the water reflected off Bella's shimmery scales, making her look even more magical—as if being a mermaid wasn't magic enough. Turning to me, Bella, smiled at me and then sped ahead. Laughing, I followed her. We zigged and zagged around the water, doing front and back flips. I did five somersaults in a row before I got too dizzy to continue and couldn't figure out how to swim straight. We were absolutely giddy.

Breaking away from Bella and her incessant twirling, I swam south and I knew she was following me. I swam and swam until I reached the edge of my favorite spot in the whole sea—the spot where I first saw Bella as a mermaid, before I even knew the mermaid was her. I waited for her to catch up but then realized I didn't need to—Bella could swim just as fast as I could, maybe even faster. But this wasn't the place to swim quickly.

Instead, we glided through the area—admiring all the sea and plant life. To me, this spot was the closest thing to the bottom of a rainbow. It was absolutely beautiful. There were long lines of seaweed that sprouted to the top of the water, reminding me of the children's story "Jack and the Beanstalk". Schools of fish swam in and out of the seaweed while others that I didn't know the names of swam around other plants (that I also didn't know the names of). But the most amazing part of it all was the color. It was like every color imaginable had come together in the one underwater paradise. The beauty of the whole thing has always made my head spin—either that or I get distracted by everything and forget to surface for air. But no matter what the reason, I could never deny that this place was a visual masterpiece.

Beside me, Bella could stop smiling as her eyes took in every little detail—she was definitely in awe. I wondered if this was anything like underwater in Ireland. I had never been there, but, looking out at the landscape before me, it was hard to believe that anything could surpass this beauty. Together, we swam through the area for what was probably another twenty minutes before we decided to explore more.

We did some more somersaults as we swam. And, when I realized we were passing the public beaches, I shot Bella a goofy look, and then jumped straight out of the water. When I came back down, Bella was glaring at me. I knew she wanted to jump to the surface too, but couldn't because the people on the beach would see her. Okay, so maybe I was being mean by rubbing it in her face, but I just wanted to have fun—and jumping out of the water was _a lot of fun_. So, I jumped again and again. When I dove back under the third time, I could tell that Bella had had enough so I followed her back to our private beach—actually, we were racing (like Jet and I tend to do), but I just ended up following Bella's trail—she was much faster than me.

We both got out of the water and I ran to grab out towels. I pulled one around my own body before handing the second to Bella. She rubbed it against her tail in an effort to dry off faster. It didn't take long for me to dry off and I quickly put my clothes back on. Once Bella had her legs back we walked up the path again to my Jeep. I unlocked it and we each threw the towels in the back.

I was about to open the driver's side door when I got an overpowering feeling that we were being watched. I spun around but found nothing but trees behind me. Frowning, I looked up to the branches in the trees. There, on the third highest branch of one tree, was a pair of golden-amber eyes staring down at us. The eyes belonged to a white and brown feathered hawk. I turned away and got in the car. But when I looked out the window the hawk was still staring at me. I stared back for awhile until Bella asked me if I was okay. Then I quickly backed out of the alcove and pulled out onto the dirt road, trying to put the hawk in the back of my brain. But I couldn't.

I couldn't get its yellow eyes out of my head. There was something about them that seemed familiar. I didn't know what it was about them, but the way the hawk looked at me—like it knew me, like it understood me—made me uneasy.

After I dropped Bella off I drove home. I pulled in my driveway and saw Jet waiting for me on my back step. But when I shut the car door, I got the feeling that someone was watching me (other than Jet) again. I turned and saw the same hawk staring at me from a tree beside my house. Had the thing followed me home? That wasn't typical behavior for a hawk. I stared back into the animal's eyes. It was then that I realized why the eyes of the hawk seemed familiar. It wasn't that I had seen them before—it was that I had seen the look they gave off before. The look was one of knowledge—one that hid secrets behind it—one that I saw every time I looked into Jet's wolf eyes or Cole's tiger eyes or my dad's mountain lion eyes or Skye's owl eyes.

There was nothing _animal_ about that hawk.


	7. Newcomers

**Hey guys, sorry for the longer break in between chapters. I started school again so the chapters won't be quite as frequent. Anyway, hope you like this chapter!**

As inconspicuously as I could, I turned away from the hawk and walked over to Jet.

"Hey," Jet said, putting his arm around me, "How was your swim?"

"Good," I smiled up at him, "let's go inside." He didn't argue with me, but I was sure he wasn't going to be happy when I told him we would probably have to cancel our date.

I had to tell my dad about the hawk and my suspicions about it. He would know what to do. Although, as far as I know he has never had any contact with other shapeshifters either. I didn't know what to think about the hawk. I was slightly frightened by it, especially since I know it followed me home, but I was also strangely excited. Not as excited as I had been when I discovered that Jet was a shapeshifter, but pretty close. How many other shapeshifters were out there? There could be hundreds, thousands, and I just didn't know about them. I wondered if maybe Skye could follow the hawk—see if it leads her to any other shapeshifters. I walked through the back door and into our kitchen, Jet right on my heels.

My dad sat at the table reading today's paper. He looks up at us when we walked in. "How was school?" he asked.

I shrugged, "Eh, it was okay."

"Anything exciting happen?"

I shook my head, "Not in school."

He raised his eyebrows at me but didn't say anything.

"I think there is another shapeshifter in town," I said quickly, anticipating his reaction. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jet widen his eyes in surprise.

My dad frowned, but his eyes showed only concern. "Are you sure?"

"No," I answered honestly, "but it wasn't exactly displaying normal animal behavior. It followed me home from the beach."

"All that way?" my dad asked, "What type of animal was it?"

"A hawk," I told him.

As soon as the words were out of my mouth a range of emotions flashed over my dad's face. I found it impossible to read them all. But one in particular stood out-recognition. Could I have been wrong about my dad? Did he know other shapeshifters? If so, then why did he keep them from us? Why did he keep us from them?

It takes him awhile to answer but he finally does. "Is it still outside?"

"I'm not sure, I think so." I walked to the window on the side of the house—the one with a direct view of the driveway and the tree the hawk had landed on when I pulled up to the house. "I don't see it," I said.

Jet and I watched as my dad folded his paper back up and set it down on the table. "I'm going for a run," he said, and noticing the eager look on my face added, "I want you two to stay here. Do not go outside. Do not shift. Just stay here. And make sure Cole and Skye do the same."

"But—" I started but was immediately cut off but my dad's stern look, "Fine."

Giving Jet and I one last firm glare, my dad walked out the back door, heading for the trees behind our house.

"What do you think he knows?" Jet asked me.

"A lot more than he's telling us," I answered. And whatever it was, how could he keep it secret from us? If it involved shapeshifters then it involved Cole, Jet, Skye and I too—my dad wasn't the only shapeshifter in the family. I slammed my hands down on the kitchen counter and groaned in frustration. "We should be out there with him," I said to Jet.

"Woah, sis," Cole said, walking in the room, Skye right behind him, "what's wrong?"

"She thinks there might be another shapshifter out there but your dad told us we had to stay in the house," Jet explained.

"Another shapeshifter?" Skye asked, "Really?" Her eyes lit up in excitement.

I nodded at her. "I'm almost sure of it. When the hawk stared at me, I felt like I was seeing the human intelligence in its eyes."

"A hawk?" Skye confirmed, "Then why on Earth are we stuck in here? I could find a bird a lot faster than Dad can."

"We don't have to be," Cole said slyly, glancing between Skye, Jet and I.

I smiled at him. I knew exactly what he was thinking—it was the same thing I had been considering ever since my dad ran off into the woods.

"There's nothing but words holding us here," Cole explained, "I don't know about you guys, but I don't really care about getting grounded right now."

"Me neither," Skye said firmly while Jet shook his head—well, not that my parents really had the power to ground him.

"Let's go." I opened the door and walked out into the backyard with Jet and my siblings following.

"I'll fly above you guys and warn you if I see anything out of the ordinary," Skye said.

"I can track Dad," I told them. After agreeing on the plan, we left our clothes on the porch and shifted into our animal forms. Skye flew up, beyond the tops of the trees while Jet and I followed my dad's scent and Cole guarded our backs. We had no idea what was going on or what we were up against.

My dad's trail zigzagged a lot at first, going this way and that—it made me wonder if he had been trying to pick up on someone else's scent. The question was whose?

The further into the woods we walked the stronger my dad's scent got but his wasn't the only one. There were other, older scents layered underneath his. They weren't ones I recognized, nor were they normal animal scents. I couldn't tell what they were or where they came from but I did know there were a lot of them—much more than one single hawk. We passed by tree after tree, entering into a part of the forest I barely ran through. I could only remember travelling here twice in my life. But it was where the scent led us. And as we got closer to my dad the other scents also became stronger. I wondered if my dad had found the source of these strange scents—if they were other shapeshifters. It briefly occurred to me than he might be in trouble.

From the way the light came through the trees ahead of us I could tell that we were coming to a small clearing. It had to be where my dad was.

Very quietly, the three of us crept forward to the edge of the clearing. I could see my dad standing on one side in his mountain lion form, and on the other side…there were about ten different animals. The one closest to my dad, a black panther, started growling in our direction. Deciding that I wasn't going to be intimidated by these shapeshifters, I held my head high and walked out into the clearing. I regretted my action almost immediately after seeing the look on my dad's face—he was afraid. I stood slightly back and to his right. I heard Cole and Jet also emerge from the trees behind me. Cole situated himself beside my dad, on his left, while Jet came to stand beside me. Lastly, Skye swooped down into the clearing and came to rest on Cole's back. I couldn't help but smile at the united front we were putting up. This group may have the numbers—a black panther, a hawk, a deer, a fox, a rabbit, a bear, a cat, a peacock, and a horse—totaling nine in all, but I was sure we were stronger.

The black panther stepped forward and shifted into a tall man that had light hair and looked to be about my dad's age. In a voice that sounded hoarse from lack of use, the man gazed down at my dad and said, "Long time no see, Mark."


	8. The Clan

Mark? Mark?! This panther—this guy—this shapeshifter knew my dad?!

My dad shifted back into human form before the other man. "Hello, Geoff."

The man looked at my dad for a long time—as if wondering whether he was really standing in front of him or if he was simply a mirage. "We thought you were dead."

We? Who was we? The numerous shapeshifters standing behind this Geoff? How did my dad know this Geoff? And why did he think my dad was dead?

"And I would like it to remain that way," my dad said, clearly trying to threaten Geoff.

"Why did you leave?"

"I couldn't stay there."

Couldn't stay where?

The hawk swooped down off the nearest tree branch and flew to where Geoff stood. It shifted into a woman who looked to be about my mom's age. She had short, blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. Even though she wasn't looking at me, I felt like she knew all my secrets—well she had followed me around for awhile. I could only hope she hadn't seen me shift from dolphin to human. My dad had always been very clear about two things: never reveal yourself as a shapeshifter and never tell anyone you can also shift into a dolphin.

"You could have petitioned to leave the tribe," the woman said to my dad.

She knew him too? And what was this tribe?

"You know my request would have been denied, Rebekka," my dad said.

Rebekka? How did my dad know these people? From their conversation, it sounded like my dad had once been in this tribe with them—wherever and whatever it was. But why hadn't my dad ever mentioned it before? Were his parents even dead like he told us? Was it possible that all four of my grandparents were still alive?

Rebekka nodded but didn't say anything. I noticed that she break eye contact with my dad. How well had they known each other?

"We are on an expedition," Geoff said, "which means part of our responsibilities to the tribe is to report any stray shapeshifters we come across."

"I know what it means," my dad practically growled, "but, as far as you know, the animals that stand behind me are just that—animals."

Geoff raised one of his eyebrows. "You can't actually expect me to believe they aren't shapeshifters."

My dad looked at Geoff firmly. "I do," he said, "I am asking you to look the other way. I am asking you out of our former friendship, and everyone travelling with you, to forget that you ever found us."

Geoff's expression didn't look like he was going to budge. I wondered what was so bad about this tribe that my dad didn't want it knowing we existed—that my dad wasn't dead.

"I can't promise you anything right now, Mark," Geoff said finally, "We will be staying in the area for a little while. I suggest that if you want us to conveniently forget your existence then you should allow us all to get to know each other. Only friends can ask each other to lie in the way you are asking us to lie."

My dad didn't say anything. He simply glared at Geoff. Even though I didn't know Geoff, I felt an inexplicable amount of anger towards the man at that time.

Geoff ignored my dad and gestured to the deer and the fox standing behind him. I quickly recognized them as the same animals Jet and I had seen in the field a week ago. I glanced at Jet to see if he recognized them as well—he did.

"This is our eldest son, Henry," Geoff said as the huge deer shifted into a boy with brown hair. He looked to be a little older than Cole. "And this is our younger son…" Geoff said as the fox stepped forward. For a fleeting second I thought of Brad. "…Tanner." The fox shifted into a boy who looked exactly like a younger version of his brother.

Geoff gestured to the rest of the shapeshifters standing behind him. I scanned the line—a cat, a rabbit, a bear, a peacock and a snake. The fox hadn't been Brad, but there was a strong possibility that he could be any of these other shapeshifters. Jet and I both knew Geoff, Rebekka, and the rest of the shapeshifters with them have been in the area about a week and Brad was new—it fit perfectly.

Each of the shapeshifters stepped forward and shifted back into human form as he said their names. "Valerie and her daughter, Kelsey," the cat shifted into a woman who looked to be in her thirties and the rabbit into a young girl who looked to be no more than nine years old, "Brett and Bryn," the bear and the peacock shifted into a man and woman who seemed to be in their late twenties, "and then Brett's brother, Stephen," the snake shifted into a man who looked to be between 23 and 25, "that is our clan," Geoff said.

Geoff, Rebekka, Henry, Tanner, Valerie, Kelsey, Brett, Bryn, and Stephen—no Brad—and I didn't know how I felt about it. On one hand, I was disappointed to not have a reason why Brad practically stalked me, and, on the other hand, I was happy to not have another thing I had to share with Brad.

Geoff gazed at each of us and then looked expectantly at my dad, waiting for him to introduce his "clan".

For a second, I thought my dad was going to refuse, but then he gestured to all four of us and said, "These are my children. Cole, Skye, Marina and John." The fact that my dad had included Jet in the list of his children didn't go unnoticed by any of us, but we knew not to question it. After only a moment's hesitation, the four of us shifted back into our human forms as well.

"And your wife?" Geoff asked.

"Is human," my dad answered firmly.

Geoff nodded and then glancing between each of us said, "It's nice to meet all of you. I'm sure we will get together soon." Every person in the clan shifted back into their respective animal forms and turned to leave.

Turning to us, my dad said, "Go home."

I wanted to argue but didn't. Instead, I shifted into my wolf form along with Jet and then the two of us followed my siblings back the way we came. I glanced back at my dad, still standing in the middle of the clearing, before disappearing into the trees. But then I heard my dad speak to someone still in the clearing.

"I didn't know you married Geoff," he whispered.

Was that Rebekka? I followed Cole for a couple more strides before nudging Jet and sneaking off in the other direction. We came back around to the side of the clearing and crouched low at the edge of the trees. My dad stood in the middle of the clearing stood with Rebekka.

"How could you?" she asked, "When you told me you were leaving the tribe, you didn't exactly give me anyway to contact you."

"I asked you to come with me." Had my dad and Rebekka dated when they were young?

"And I told you no—that the tribe was my home."

"Is it still?" my dad asked, curious.

"Yes," Rebekka answered firmly.

My dad nodded but didn't say anything. A silence passed between them.

"Your daughter…Marina…" Rebekka started.

My dad raised an eyebrow. "What about her?"

"She's a very special girl."

"I know," my dad said, "She told me you were watching her."

"I wasn't at first," Rebekka admitted, "but when I saw her shift into a dolphin, I followed her."

"So you do know then," my dad said, sounding slightly downtrodden.

"That your daughter can shift into a dolphin and a wolf?" Rebekka asked, "Yes. I know." She paused and stared at my dad for awhile. "You realize what this means? Who she is?"

"Of course I do," my dad said, straightening up, "But it's been over a thousand years since the prophecy was made. We don't even know if what it said will come true."

"Before sure, but have you heard of any shapeshifters today who can turn into more than one animal?"

"Of course not. That ability has been lost to us since before the prophecy was made."

"Then you can't tell me you don't think she's the one," Rebekka pointed out.

"I don't care if she is," my dad said in a very threatening voice, "She is my daughter and I don't want her to getting involved in any of this."

"She may not have a choice."

"Promise me. Promise me you won't tell Geoff, or anyone else for that matter, about Marina."

Rebekka looked unsure.

"Please," my dad begged, "what if it was one of your sons? What would you do?"

Rebekka sighed. "I'd protect them no matter what," she said, "Okay, I promise I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you, Rebekka," my dad said, "I'd better go. I have a lot to talk about with my kids."

She nodded and then the two turned to leave. I watched as they both shifted into their respective animals and took off. Jet nudged me with his snout. I knew that we should get going—that it wouldn't be good if my dad got back and we weren't there—but I was couldn't move. I was frozen in shock. What prophecy? And how was I involved in it? I always knew that being able to turn into two animals made me special, but I didn't know it made me special enough to be the person some prophecy talked about.

"Marina?" Jet had shifted back into human form, "Marina, are you okay?"

Very slowly, I nodded.

"We have to go." Jet shifted into his black wolf again, and gently taking my fur in his teeth, pulled me away from the clearing. Reluctantly, I followed him.

I had to find that prophecy. I had to know what it said about me.


	9. Land and Sea

For most people nightmares start out as dreams. There you are asleep, blissfully dreaming about rainbows and puppies or whatever, and then all of a sudden the dream changes. The skies grow darker and darker. The clouds hide the rainbow and the puppy runs away. And even though you know not to follow it into that unknown darkness, you do. You blindly walk through the deep blackness in search of your furry friend, until you realize two things—one, you are lost, and two, someone or something horrible is following you. So you run, and run and run. But you know you can never run fast enough. The monster catches you. You see if gleaming red eyes and its sharp, dagger-like teeth, and you scream. That's when you wake up, clutching your pillow and breathing heavily, oftentimes wondering how your mind could have led you on such a terrifying path.

When I was young my progression of dreams and nightmares was always the opposite. My dreams would start off as nightmares. I would be stranded out in the middle of the ocean with no life preserver and no hope of ever being found. My arms and legs ached from treading water for so long, and I knew that I couldn't hold on much longer. I was going to drown. But then just as sure as I had been a moment ago when I thought I was going to drown, I would realize that I would survive. I would survive because of my secret—I could swim faster and hold my breath longer than anyone I know. And with that knowledge my nightmare would give way to a delightful dream in an underwater paradise.

Looking back on those nightmares turned dreams, I realized they were my body trying to tell my mind that I could shift into a sea creature. I was ten years old when I first turned into a dolphin. And even though that was almost seven years ago now, I could still remember it perfectly.

When Cole, Skye and I were younger, the last weekend in September was known as the "Relaxation Weekend". Every year, during those two days my family would drive the twenty minutes it took to get to the beach and spend the weekend there together. I looked forward to this weekend every year because, although the summer was over, the two days allowed me to imagine that it was still the beginning of July. Besides the woods, the beach was my favorite place to spend time. Even when my dad, Cole, Skye and I would go out for a "hike" I would ask if our final destination could be the beach. I loved the smoothness of the sand and the coolness of the water. I had been drawn to the ocean—even before I discovered I could turn into a dolphin.

That late September weekend when I was ten was a particularly special one. As soon as we arrived and I felt the grains of sand squeeze themselves between my toes a rush of excitement ran through me. I started for the water, my legs resisting the sinking sand.

"Marina!" my mom called, "Where are you going?"

"I want to go swimming!" I yelled back.

"You have to wait," she said, rubbing suntan lotion on Skye's arm, "You don't have sunscreen on yet."

"I don't need it."

"Yes, you do. You don't want to burn do you?"

I groaned but listened to my mom and ran back up to our spot on the beach where my dad and Cole were attempting to set up our umbrella. Squirting more lotion in her hand, my mom grabbed my arm and started smothering me in sunscreen.

"Cole, Skye, you wanna go swimming?" I asked them.

"Yeah!" They answered together.

"You can't go by yourselves," my mom said as she grabbed hold of one of my chicken legs, catching me off balance.

"Why not?" Cole asked, voicing the same question that had popped in my head.

"Because, there isn't a lifeguard to watch you," my mom responded, "Maybe your father will go with you."

"Will you, Dad?" Cole asked.

"Of course," my dad said.

"Will you come too, Mommy?" Skye asked, clinging to my mom's leg.

My mom sighed. "Oh, alright."

"Yay!" Skye exclaimed.

"Okay, Marina," my mom said, closing the bottle of sunscreen, "you're all done."

I raced down to the edge of the water—stopping just short of allowing it wash over my toes. I glanced over my shoulder to see my family walking down the beach towards me. I looked back out at the ocean. It was relatively calm that day—only a smooth wave rolling to the shore every so often. Cole came to stand beside me.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked, "Race you!"

We both lurched forward, our feet pounding the water—we made it to the first wave at the same time.

"I won!" Cole shouted in victory.

"No way!" I said, "We tied."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

My dad grabbed each of us firmly by the shoulder, making us both jump. "How about we go out a bit further and jump the waves?" he asked.

"Okay!" Cole and I said together, completely forgetting our argument.

My dad took our hands and we slowly walked into deeper water. We stopped just when the water lapped at my shoulders.

"Here comes one," my dad said, his eyes on the water ahead of us, "You ready?"

I nodded and he squeezed my hand. The small wave glided towards us. I pushed my feet into the sand, building energy in my legs, before releasing it all at once. With the help of the water, I became buoyant—my chest rising high out of the water. I giggled as the wave passed under me.

"Again!" Skye shouted from behind us where she stood with my mom.

Another small wave came towards us and we jumped again. In my mind, it was the closest I would ever come to flying. And, it was for that reason that I couldn't understand why Skye liked it so much—she could fly for real—surely gliding over ocean waves couldn't compare to that.

Once my feet were planted in the sand again, I looked down at the ground. The water wasn't crystal clear, it was definitely cloudy, but it was clear enough for me to see my toes. And, beside my toes, lied the most beautiful seashell I had ever seen. In that moment, I never wanted anything more.

At first, I attempted to pick it up with my toes, but the swaying of the water made it impossible to grasp. I glanced back up at the ocean in front of me to make sure there wasn't another wave coming towards us. Then I let go of my dad's hand and dove under the surface. I was blind—I knew not to try to open my eyes in the salt water without fierce stinging occurring. I pushed the water behind me so I could reach the ocean floor. My fingers grazed the sand in search of the shell, but I came up empty. I let myself float to the surface for air and then dove back under. I came up again, still empty-handed. I was beginning to wonder if I would be able to get the shell at all. Little did I know that at the end of the day, the beautiful shell would be the last thing on my mind.

I dove under once more, floating near the surface. I kicked my feet to go deeper and decided that—despite the possibility of pain—to open my eyes. It was the only chance I had of finding the shell. But when I opened my eyes in the salt water there was no pain—no stinging whatsoever. It was as if I was in a cool bathtub, the water soothing my tired eyes. A discomfort in my lungs grew stronger and I realized I had wasted the few precious seconds of air I had pondering the lack of pain in my eyes. I needed to breath again. I was about to flip around to surface when a voice in the back of my mind urged me to continue forward, so I did. And, amazingly, as I went deeper the pressure in my lungs lessened until it was only a faint vibration.

Finally, I spotted the shell, but when I tried to pick it up I couldn't. My arms were suddenly too short, and I didn't have any hands. I panicked. I quickly swam to the surface and tried to put my feet on the floor, only I also didn't have any feet—well, I was assuming I no longer had either of these body parts since I couldn't see them. I turned to my dad and Cole to find out what was wrong with me. They were both openly staring at me—Cole's mouth hanging wide open. My dad's mouth wasn't hanging open but it was turned down in a frown. Why was he frowning at me? Oh no, maybe my feet and hands really had disappeared.

"Marina!" Skye shouted, "You're a dolphin!"

My attention snapped to my mom and Skye, who were also staring at me. A dolphin? I tried to turn to see my body but it was difficult. I caught a glimpse of a gray tail behind me. Was I really a dolphin? Keeping an eye on the gray tail, I thought about moving forward. Almost immediately, the tail flapped in the water. I was a dolphin. But I was also a wolf. How was that possible? I wasn't sure, but I did know I couldn't stay a dolphin, especially not on a public beach. I remembered what it was like to swim as a human and soon my hands and feet returned.

My dad immediately scooped me up in his arms and walked out of the water with me. He didn't put me down until we reached our umbrella, where he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my body.

I was a dolphin. I couldn't help but smile. "I'm a dolphin," I said to my dad.

He looked up at me from the spot on the ground where he had fixed his attention. He smiled, but I could tell it was forced. "Yes, Marina." He glanced out at the line where water met sand and where my mom was escorting Skye and Cole out of the ocean. Then he looked back at me, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion and concern.

I pulled the giant towel around me tighter and smiled to myself. I was a dolphin.


	10. Overheard

Come Monday morning there was only one thing on my mind—ever since we met the clan of other shapeshifters there had only been one thing on my mind—the prophecy.

I knew nothing about it other than my dad and Rebekka were convinced I was the person it is referring to. But how could they be sure? Did this prophecy explicitly mention as shapeshifter who could turn into a wolf and a dolphin? I had always assumed that I was the only shapeshifter capable of turning into more than one animal—my dad and Rebekka seemed to be sure of it—but there had once been a time when I was convinced my family were the world's only shapeshifters. Just because they were adults didn't mean they knew everything about the world—they didn't know for sure that I was the one the prophecy was talking about. But there was only one way to find out for sure, and that was to find this prophecy and read it myself.

The problem was, I had no idea where to find it. I highly doubted I would find in my local library. I couldn't ask my dad without revealing that I eavesdropped on his private conversation with Rebekka. On top of that, whatever the prophecy said, my dad didn't want me involved with it. If he knew I wanted to look into the prophecy he would no doubt try to stop me, claiming he was protecting me just as he did when he explained why he didn't tell me and my siblings about his childhood in the tribe. So, going to my dad wasn't an option. And Jet didn't know anything—he didn't even know he was a shapeshifter until he turned fifteen and his body forced him to change. I had to find someone who knew shapeshifter history. My immediate thought was to go to the tribe Geoff talked about but I couldn't do that—even though I didn't know it, there was a reason why my dad left and faked his own death.

Walking towards my group of friends I came to a halt. They were all sitting side by side along a line of lockers.

Of course. How had I not thought of it before? Last semester I learned that Tommy, who has been my friend since we were in the same fourth grade class, was a sorcerer. He had helped me, Jet and Bella stop an evil siren from taking over the whole town in the spring. Without him we never would have known how the siren was controlling people and come up with a way to defeat her. And although, Tommy wasn't always very confident with his magical abilities, he really came through for us in the end.

But I didn't have a siren problem right now. I needed information, and not only was Tommy a sorcerer with magical powers, but he was also a sorcerer with books full of information on supernaturals. If anyone knew anything about this prophecy, it would be him. I couldn't talk to Tommy with Annie, Connor, and Grace around. None of them knew supernaturals even existed. I had to get him alone and ask him about it.

Just then, my vision disappeared—covered by a pair of hands belonging to someone standing behind me.

"Guess who?" the person asked.

I giggled. "Hmm," I wondered aloud—as if I didn't know who it was. Jet was always doing silly things like this to get me to smile. And he never failed to do so. Smiling wide, I peeled the fingers away from my eyes and turned around. Almost immediately, the smile fell from my face. Jet wasn't the person behind me. In fact, out of the corner of my eye, I could see Jet standing with Bella at the other end of the hall—neither of them looking very happy. And, to tell you the truth, I wasn't too happy either—particularly because the person standing before me was Brad.

Two blissful days without Brad around had actually allowed me to forget about how annoying he was. But now that he was here once again—smothering me with his inflated ego—it was hard to ignore him.

"How was your weekend?" he asked me.

I shrugged. "Uneventful," I said as Jet and Bella approached the group.

"Hey," Jet said evenly as he placed an arm over my shoulder and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek—all the while keeping an eye on Brad.

I leaned into Jet—wanting to reassure him that Brad was no threat to him.

"So, Brad," Bella started, "Did you finally get to see the beach on Saturday?"

It seemed like Brad had to force his eyes to look away from me and over to Bella instead. God, why did he have to be interested in me?

"I know you said last week that you really wanted to," Bella added.

"Nah," Brad said, "I was too busy. Moving boxes and stuff, you know?"

Bella laughed nervously, fiddling with the blue crystal around her neck. "Oh yeah. The amount of boxes is probably one of the worst parts about moving. I hate having to pack and unpack over and over again."

Brad smiled back at her but didn't say anything. An awkward silence followed where I noticed how Bella's eyes kept moving back to Brad. When the bell rang, we finally had an excuse to break the silence and leave.

Three hours later, after three long hours with Brad glued to my side, I had miraculously managed to lose him if only temporarily. My luck continued for the next few minutes. I walked out into the courtyard to find Tommy sitting alone at our table. Hurrying over before anyone else joined us, I whispered to Tommy, "I need to borrow your supernatural dictionary."

He frowned. "What for?" he asked, "Do we have another unknown supernatural prowling the town?"

I shook my head. "This is something else," I said.

"Well, I can't let you borrow the book, but you can come over later tonight to look at it if you want."

"Yeah, alright, thanks," I said as Jet slid into the seat next to me.

"Hey, Mar," he said laying his hand on the top of my thigh, "What's up?"

"Nothing." I smiled at him. I didn't know why but I chose not to tell Jet I was looking into the prophecy. Whatever it said about me, I didn't want him to worry.

"Guys, listen to what happened to me this morning," he chuckled to himself and added, "You'll appreciate this, Mar."

"What happened?"

"I was almost late to school because my paw got stuck."

"Your paw?" A voice from behind us said incredulously.

Jet and I turned around at the same time. Brad was standing less than a foot away—his eyes narrowed at us suspiciously. Oh crap. Had he heard our conversation? He clearly caught the last part but he couldn't actually believe he had heard us right, could he? Someone needed to say something, and fast, if we wanted to avoid further suspicion, but it was if my mind was attempting to climb stairs of sand—anytime I thought I had a good excuse my foot would fall through the unstable ground and I would be left with nothing. Where had my exemplary lying skills disappeared to? I was supposed to be able to spew out the most believable thing within a moment's notice. It was one of the ways in which my dad had taught me to protect my shapeshifter secret.

"My paw?" Jet laughed, jumping in, "No, no. _My pawn_. You know, like in chess?"

"So, you were almost late to school because the pawn from your chess game was stuck?" Brad asked, his eyebrows furrowed. He still didn't believe Jet.

"Yeah, I always play chess with my dad," Jet said casually, which wasn't easy since it was a complete lie, "We were playing a game last night but didn't get to finish, so we picked it up again this morning before I had to leave for school. I was just explaining to Marina and Tommy how I ended up losing the game because I focused my strategy on the single movement of this one pawn but my dad had surrounded it."

"Oh," Brad said as he sat down across the table from me and Jet, "uh, sucks, I guess."

"Yeah, it was kind of humiliating," Jet said.

Just then Grace and Bella walked over, Bella taking the empty seat beside Brad. Phew. We were in the clear. It seemed like Brad believed Jet now. From underneath the table, I felt Jet's hand slide up my thigh and grab my hand, which he gently squeezed. _Everything's okay,_ he seemed to say, _he doesn't know_.

And Jet was right. Even if Brad still thought he said "paw", it wasn't like his mind would immediately jump to shapeshifter. Besides, as far as Brad was concerned, shapeshifters didn't even exist.

**Please review! I love hearing from my readers!**


	11. Predators

After school, instead of driving home, I headed towards Hollister Avenue. Jet was quiet in the passenger seat next to me. He didn't even say a word when I turned—heading in the opposite direction of my house. Ten minutes later, I pulled onto a dirt road that was hidden from the main one. Together, Jet and I hopped out of my Jeep. Coming around to my side of the car, he smiled.

"What?" I asked.

He pulled his t-shirt up over his head, revealing his the muscles of his perfectly toned chest and abs, and smiled even wider. "You read my mind."

He leaned in close—so close that I could feel the waves of body heat emanating from the smooth skin of his chest. Placing his hands on my waist, he tugged me towards him—closing the distance between us. His lips found mine, our mouths molding together. Resting my hands against his shoulders, tracing tiny circles on his skin with my index finger, I opened my mouth to his and his tongue darted inside. Our tongues and bodies intertwined simultaneously, singing the chorus of our favorite song. I could not only feel my own heartbeat, but I could also feel his—beating opposite mine—it was as if I had two hearts inside of me.

His hands innocently slipped beneath my shirt, leaving goosebumps on my skin wherever they went. One came to rest on the small of my back while the other glided up my back to my bra strap. For awhile his hand remained there as we made out, the tips of his fingers lightly spreading against my skin. But then they started moving over the strap—trying to find the opening—until he managed to unhook it completely.

I pulled my lips away from his, smiling. "I can do that myself, you know," I said playfully.

"Maybe," he said, his eyes sparking, "but isn't it more fun this way?"

Part of me—and a pretty large one I admit—wanted Jet to continue. I didn't want him to stop. I wanted to know what it felt like to be as close to him as possible. But, another part of me knew that wasn't why we were here, nor was here the best place to find out how close we could get.

We stared into each other's eyes for a long time, both breathing heavily. I knew it was my move—Jet would never do anything if I didn't want to do it too. Finally, I looked away. Jet pulled his hands out from underneath my shirt and placed a soft, lingering kiss on my forehead before stepping away. I gave him a small smile and he smiled back as he walked around the other side of the Jeep so we could undress in privacy. I briefly wondered if I had hurt his feelings by stopping him.

I removed my clothes, stowed them in the backseat, and shifted into my gray wolf. When I rounded the corner of the car, I found Jet, as his black wolf, already waiting for me. We took off running through the woods. We hadn't gotten far when something—or someone—started following us. We exchanged looks before splitting off in opposite directions. I circled back around—knowing Jet was doing the same—so that when we came back together we would be the ones doing the chasing. After a few minute, Jet and I met up again, coming together right behind a deer and a fox.

Both animals stopped and turned to face Jet and I. The stag—who I remembered to be Geoff's eldest son—stepped forward. He shifted back into human form, his brown hair ruffled, and Jet did the same.

"John?" the boy, or man rather—up close he definitely looked to be about 21—asked.

Jet nodded.

"I'm Henry," he said, "And this—"

Before Henry could finish though, the fox behind him shifted into a boy that couldn't have been more than a year younger than Jet and I. "I'm Tanner," the boy said. Both Henry and Tanner looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to shift into human form too. But that wasn't going to happen. If I didn't want Jet seeing me naked then I definitely didn't want these guys seeing me. A rumbling rolled up the back of my throat until it escaped my lips in the form of a growl.

Glancing between me and the other shapeshifters, Jet carefully stepped in front of me. "And this is Marina," he said, dismissing any possibility of me shifting again.

Henry focused on Jet but Tanner's gaze was still on me. "I'm sure you two know the area well," Henry said, "Care to show us around?"

"Not much to see," Jet responded harshly.

"Oh come on man. Just because our dad's hate each other doesn't mean we have to."

Jet didn't say anything. He looked back at me, wanting to know what I thought about Henry's request. Although I didn't like it, all he wanted was to go on a "hike" with us. I gave Jet my best attempt at a shrug in my wolf form.

Turning back to Henry and Tanner, Jet said, "Alright." All three boys shifted back into their animal forms.

Not sparing Henry or Tanner another glance, I headed back out into the dense forest. I didn't go slow, but I didn't race like I do with Jet either. No matter how much I wanted to run away as fast as I could, leaving the tribal boys in the dust, I knew it wouldn't be right. So, instead I moved at an average pace, always making sure I could hear them behind me, but never looking back to see if they were actually there.

We continued that way for awhile. I led them first to the clearing where our fathers first confronted each other, then I led them to the high cliffs by the shore, and finally to the small canyon where Jet, Bella, Tommy, and I fought Shira—the psychotic, power-hungry siren. I should have known not to take them to the canyon—I should have known not to go back to the canyon at all—the place was an epicenter of bad luck for me.

Standing at the edge of the canyon, gazing down at the brook that ran through it, Henry shifted back into human form. "Wow," he said, "you guys have some really cool landmarks to explore here." He looked over to Jet expectantly but all Jet did was nod. "Our tribe is higher up in the mountains, so we don't really have scenes like this. Mostly just trees and snow."

I wondered where exactly the tribe was in the mountains but didn't want to shift to ask. When no one said anything, Henry shifted back into a deer. For a second, I felt bad for him. He was only trying to get to know us. But the question remained—was he only doing it because his dad told him to?

Suddenly, my ears were filled with a horrifying, deafening, and yet painstakingly familiar eruption of sound. All four of our heads swiveled around at the same time. About forty yards away from us, and closing that gap, were four men. Each was dressed in a black t-shirt and cargo pants with giant black combat boots on his feet and a tight black cap on his head. And although it wasn't completely dark yet, each wore a pair of what were unmistakably night vision goggles on his face. But it wasn't any of those things that had my torso and limbs shaking so severely that I wondered if Jet thought I was having a seizure. No, it wasn't the clothing, or the goggles, or even the massive boots that looked like they could crush my rib cage into a pile of bone dust with one stomp. No, it was the large (and most likely fully loaded) black rifles resting in each of their hands—rifles that were conveniently pointed directly at us.

One of the men stepped forward, smiling as he aimed his gun at Henry. One of the men stepped forward and shifted his gun so that it was pointed at me. The man behind the gun looked slightly younger than the others. When the other two men didn't step into line with him, the man I assumed was the leader turned his head slightly—so he could see both them and us—revealing a very detailed tattoo of a bleeding wolf on the side of his neck. Prickles began to move down my spine at the sight of the gruesome image.

"What are you waiting for?" the man barked, "Get them!"

The man with the tattoo's shouting didn't just get the other men moving, but it got us moving too. While Henry and Tanner darted off in one direction, Jet and I raced off in another. We ran as fast as we could, but somehow, the two men chasing us stayed on our trail. It was then that I realized these men weren't just regular sporting hunters—these men were professionals.

Side by side, Jet and I ran through the familiar forest. Another shot was fired and a bullet whizzed by over our heads. I caught Jet's eye. I could tell from the look he was giving me that he knew what we had to do—we had to split up. Our odds of surviving and finding a hiding spot were better if we only had to deal with one hunter. At exactly the same time, Jet and I split off in opposite directions. The hunters also chose to split up—the one who had had his gun aimed at me before following me now.

I continued to run as fast as I could, but I hadn't fun this far, this fast, and for this long in awhile. The only thing that kept me going was the threat of the young man running behind me. I pushed my legs to move faster and faster until the sound of the hunter's labored breath softened. When I was sure he was far enough away, I darted out of sight and beneath the shelter of a slopping rock. It wasn't a cave, but with the sun now completely down, I was hoping the rock's shadow was deep and dark enough to hide me from the hunter. Crouching low in the blackest part of the shadow, I waited for the hunter to realize he lost me. Only a couple seconds later, the young man thundered past my hideout.

I breathed a sigh of relief and silently crawled out from under the rock. I had to find Jet. We needed to get out of the woods as soon as possible. I wouldn't even let myself think about the possibility of Jet not being okay.

Pushing the pads of my paws against the dirt ground, I stood up but froze once more at the sound of a bullet clicking into place. From behind a nearby tree emerged the young hunter—a satisfied smile on his face and his gun pointed at my head.


	12. An Abstract

What I expected him to do was shoot me. I didn't expect him to talk to me. I mean, who talks to their prey?

With every sentence, he seemed to move closer to me. "You thought you could evade me?" the hunter asked, his voice echoing off the rock behind me, "thought you could fool me?" he laughed—his chuckle surprisingly striking my heart not with fear but with a jolt of annoyance. It occurred to me that this hunter was awfully cocky.

"You always think you have the upper hand," he took a step towards me, "but we know. _I know_. I know that you and I are of equal intelligence. That's why I have the upper hand—because I knew you would be clever enough to find a hiding place." He took a couple more steps in my direction—his gun still pointed at the space between my eyes.

I didn't know what to do. If I ran he'd shoot me, but if I stayed he'd shoot me. It didn't seem possible for me to get out of this situation without sustaining some sort of bullet wound.

I looked up to the goggles on his face. Even though I couldn't see his eyes through them, I knew he was staring into my bright yellow ones.

When he spoke again, his voice was softer and less boisterous, "I wonder what color your eyes really are."

His words stirred up more fear in me than his gun. My real eye color? Did he mean what I thought he did? Did he know I was a shapeshifter?

"Are they blue? Green? A warm brown?" he smiled at me.

I unwittingly took a step forward—something about him seemed…familiar.

"I bet you have these luscious blonde ringlets that reflect the rays in direct sunlight," he whispered. What he said, of course, wasn't at all true, but the sound of his voice was somehow drawing me in. "Or maybe you like to change your hair color in an attempt to match that beautiful light of yours."

Light? What light was he talking about?

Then it hit me. The light he was talking about was my aura. But if he could see my aura that meant he had to have one too. I stared at the glass where his eyes would be and slowly enlarged my scope of vision. Nothing. The hunter didn't have an aura—either that or it didn't work since I couldn't see his eyes. That had to be it. After all, only other supernaturals can see the aura of another supernatural. But if I really couldn't see the hunter's aura because I couldn't see his eyes, then that meant he was a supernatural…like me. It also meant he definitely knew I was a shapeshifter. Why would another supernatural hunt shapeshifters?

He took another step—making the distance between my snout and the tip of his gun only a few inches. So close to the barrel, I could see the woods around me reflected off its clean surface. There was no residue on the gun. He hadn't been the one to shoot at Jet and I before. Was it possible that he didn't want to kill me?

"Change," the hunter whispered to me.

It was then that I realized how close we had gotten—and how dangerous it was for me to be that close. I started to back away.

The hunter frowned. "I said, change back," he said a bit more harshly.

I continued to move back towards the shadow.

He raised his gun, resting its butt in his armpit, and aimed it at me—both his eyes locked on the bullet's target. "Change!" he shouted, "or I'll shoot!"

When my dad had pretended to be a hunter that day when I was nine, I never expected to find myself in the same, but very real, situation seven years later. I knew what I had to do—nothing. I had to let myself get shot. I couldn't reveal myself to this hunter.

Accepting my fate, I took a deep breath in and closed my eyes.

When nothing happened immediately I admit I peeked. And it was a good thing I did because in that next second a blur that blended in with the night air struck the hunter—knocking him to the ground.

Jet rushed to my side. He nudged my neck with his snout to make sure I was okay. I nudged him back but our reunion was short-lived when we both noticed the hunter reaching for his gun. Jet snarled and jumped towards the hunter—actually landing right on top of him—his paws making contact with the young man's chest. The hunter was desperately trying to get a hold of his gun but Jet reached out and bit the hunter's arm. He cried out and rolled over in attempt to cover his arm, throwing Jet off of him. Running back to me, Jet jerked his head to the right. I didn't need to be told twice. Following Jet, we ran away from the injured hunter as fast as we could.

Later that night, after I told my dad and siblings about Jet and I's confrontation with the hunters who knew we were shapeshifters and after my dad forbid any of us from shifting for the time being and after Jet decided to go home, I found myself in my Jeep driving down the road to Tommy's house. Despite the traumatic events that had happened earlier, I was still determined to figure out what this prophecy said or if was even about me—in fact, after what happened, I was probably even more determined to find the prophecy.

I parked my car in Tommy's driveway and walked up the steps to ring the doorbell. I hadn't gotten to see Tommy a lot over the summer, and whenever I did get to see him it was usually at the beach or in town. This was the first time I had been to his house since Tommy, Jet, and Bella tied me up and brought me here to figure out how to get me out of the siren's control.

Tommy answered the door. "Hey," he said, "Come on in." He swung the door open wider to let me in and then closed it behind me. He led me into his kitchen and opened the fridge. "You hungry? Thirsty?" he asked, "Want some water?"

"Sure," I said and sat down at the counter.

Tommy grabbed a water bottle from the top shelf and slid it over to me. "I'll go grab the book." He disappeared down the hall and returned a couple minutes later with the old, large book that I recognized from last spring. It had been extremely useful last year—telling us almost exactly how the siren could take control of people. "Okay, so what are you looking for?"

"A prophecy," I said, "about shapeshifters."

"A prophecy?" Tommy asked, "Hmm…well, if it is indeed a prophecy then it would probably be in the seers' history. But if it's about shapeshifters then it could be in that section too." He looked up at me as if I knew the answer.

I raised my eyebrows at him and gestured to the book. He was the expert, not me. I didn't even know what a seer was—although, I was able to gather that it had something to do with predicting the future.

Turning back to the book, Tommy began flipping through the pages. "The seers made a lot of note-worthy prophecies," he said, "it'll probably be easier to look through the shapeshifter section for it."

Again, I didn't say anything. I had to trust Tommy when it came to supernatural information.

"Do you know what it's about?"

I shook my head. "I was hoping you could tell me."

"Hmm…" Tommy said again. His eyes moved so quickly across each page that I wondered how he was able to even see the words on the page. "Here!" He pointed to a paragraph in the middle of the page.

"Where?" I asked eagerly, leaning in towards him.

"It talks about a prophecy spoken by a seer named Porias a thousand years ago."

"Does it say anything about who or what is in the prophecy? Is the actual prophecy written in the text?"

"No, it doesn't have the real prophecy written here," Tommy said, "you guys tend to be pretty protective of your history, and future I guess too."

"Okay…but what does it say about the prophecy?" I asked. Although seriously disappointed that the prophecy itself wasn't in Tommy's book of all things supernatural, I had to know what it did say about the prophecy.

"Alright, alright. It says here that the prophecy involves a shapeshifter of multiple animals and a hunter," Tommy paraphrased.

"A hunter?"

"Yeah," Tommy nodded, "Marina, you do realize that you are a 'shapeshifter of multiple animals', right?"

Ignoring his question, I asked, "Is there anything else there?"

"Marina, I think this prophecy—whatever it says—is about you," Tommy said seriously. He looked away from his "supernatural encyclopedia" and up at me.

I wrinkled my nose. "It could be another 'shapeshifter of multiple animals'," I said, but even as I said it I didn't believe it.

Tommy shook his head. "The gene allowing shapeshifters to turn into more than one animal has been inactive for over two thousand years. You're the one."

I laughed. "You make it sound like I'm the savior of the supernatural world."

Tommy didn't laugh. "I don't know what this prophecy says exactly, but you very well could be."

I stopped laughing and stared at Tommy. "You're serious? You seriously think that I'm the shapeshifter the prophecy is referring to?"

"I do."

I was the one. Well, crap. I was almost afraid to ask Tommy, but I did anyway—I had to know everything I could. "What else does it say?"

Tommy turned back to his book. "Only that the outcome of the prophecy will change the shapeshifters' world forever."

"Change shapeshifter world forever?" I gulped, "but there's not that many shapeshifters around these days, right?"

Again, Tommy shook his head. "Actually, Marina, shapeshifters are probably the most prevalent of the supernaturals alive today."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, apparently it has something to do with your ability to fit in easily to normal human life and your desire to live in clandestine tribes. Not to mention you didn't have to avoid being burned at the stake during the witch trials." Tommy chuckled, but this time it was me who didn't laugh with him.

"How many?" I whispered.

Tommy scrunched up his face and made like he was doing intense math in his head. "Umm, probably around five hundred—"

"Oh that's not—"

"—thousand."

I didn't speak—I couldn't. Five hundred-thousand shapeshifters? Five hundred-thousand shapeshifters all expecting me to be the one to change their lives. No pressure.

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	13. Kith and Kin

For two days straight I thought of nothing but the prophecy—what Tommy told me, what else it could say, where it could be, how I could get a hold of it, _how it was me_. That last thought was the one that consumed my mind the most. I couldn't deny it anymore. The savior in the prophecy was me. I had no idea what I was going to do about it, or, rather, what I was supposed to do, but I did know the only way I was going to find out was if I found the prophecy—the whole prophecy—which, of course, presented a problem because I had no idea where it find it.

I had put all my money on Tommy knowing everything about it, or at least knowing where I could find it, but even after I begged him to search the "seer" section of his encyclopedia for more on the prophecy he still couldn't find it. So, once again, it was up to me. Why was everything suddenly weighing down on my shoulders? Why couldn't other people take some of the weight?

I was sure feeling the weight as I walked from the school building to my Jeep that afternoon. My bag was full of folders, notebooks and textbooks. All my teachers had decided it would be fun for me to have to study for three tests on the same day. I was sure they were out to get me. I mean, didn't they know I had the added pressure of being the one person who can save all the shapeshifters in the world? No. Of course they didn't. They didn't even know shapeshifters existed.

I sighed and searched my bag for my car keys, rummaging through the extra pockets. Where had I put them?

A hand slid around my waist and a pair of lips planted a kiss on my cheek. "Hey," Jet said, not moving his face away from mine, "Ready to go?"

I turned so that our lips met briefly. Smiling, I said, "Yeah, as soon as I find my keys."

"Looking for these?"

Pulling away from Jet, I found Brad standing beside me, holding his pinky finger out towards me, on which my keys were dangling.

I snatched them from him, glaring. "Where did you get these?" I demanded.

Brad raised his eyebrows at me. "Woah. Relax," he said, "I didn't steal them, if that's what you're implying."

I could feel my cheeks burn in embarrassment. "Oh." I knew if I said anything else, I would probably chew him out—something that even I could admit he didn't deserve.

"I saw them fall out of your bag on your way out," Brad added.

"Umm, thanks," I said, breaking eye contact with Brad.

"Hey guys!" Bella exclaimed bounding up to us. We seemed to have become opposites lately—she was always so cheerful whenever Brad was around, and I was so…not.

"Hey," Jet said. He was the only one to respond to Bella.

"What's up?" Bella said slowly, glancing between me and Brad.

"Not much," I said, attempting to smile at Bella. From the look on her face, I could tell I didn't do so well.

"O-kay," she said and turned towards Brad.

"We better get going," Jet said, pulling me away from Brad and Bella.

Bella grabbed my arm, stopping me from getting in the car. "I'll text you later, okay?" she looked at me meaningfully.

"Sure," I said, attempting another smile. I did a better job that time. Turning away again, I got in the car beside Jet. Backing out of the parking spot and pulling away from the school, I saw Bella talking animatedly to Brad in my rearview mirror. It was so obvious she liked him—to everyone but Brad it seemed—unless Brad was just too busy trying to get to me, something I really wished he would stop doing. Brad couldn't see that Bella liked him and Bella couldn't see that Brad liked me. I was definitely more thankful for the second blindness—I didn't want my best friend being mad at me for something that wasn't my fault.

Once home, I heaved my ten-ton bag over my shoulder and headed around to the back door with Jet right behind me (if you're wondering, Jet pretty much never goes home). I opened the door to the kitchen to find a stranger sitting alone at my kitchen table.

"What are you doing here?" Well, not a complete stranger, but that was the problem.

Skye emerged from the other room, holding a plate full of crumbs. "Relax, Marina," she said, "Valerie's okay." She then turned to address the woman from the clan, "Kelsey says she wants more cookies, that okay?"

Valerie smiled at Skye. "That's fine," she said.

Once Skye left the room again—glaring at me on her way out—I turned back to Valerie. "What do you want?"

"I came here to talk to John," she said, eyeing him standing behind me.

Jet moved forward and sat down at the table with Valerie while I took the seat next to him. "Okay, so talk."

Valerie's eyes shifted from Jet to me and then back to Jet. "I was hoping we'd get to talk...in private."

Jet straightened up—something he tended to do when he got defensive. "Anything you have to say to me you can say in front of Marina," he said.

I felt my cheeks burn again, but not out of embarrassment like before, but out of shame—I still hadn't told Jet what I discovered about the prophecy. I didn't know what was holding me back—I just couldn't seem to tell him for some reason. I also probably should have reminded him that, according to this woman, we were brother and sister—and his behavior wasn't exactly "brotherly".

"Okay," Valerie said, glancing at me again, "You're not a part of their family, are you?"

Or maybe it didn't matter that Jet wasn't acting "brotherly".

"No," Jet admitted.

Great. Now this woman was probably going to run off to Geoff and tell him that my dad had lied about Jet. He was probably going to get carted off to this tribe that was supposedly so horrible.

"I live a couple miles away," Jet told her.

"Do people tell you that you look like your mother?" Valerie asked.

Jet frowned. "Umm, no. I'm adopted."

Something that looked oddly like hope flashed across Valerie's face.

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation," I said, leaning forward, "but, why are you asking him all these questions?"

Valerie stared at Jet—her eyes rounding his face. "You…" Valerie paused, clearly flustered, "you…it's just look like…you look like my sister."

Everyone was silent. The only sound was the T.V. in the other room, where I assumed Skye and Valerie's daughter, Kelsey, were watching a cartoon.

"Your sister?" Jet asked finally.

Valerie nodded. "You look exactly like her. She ran away from the tribe when I was fourteen."

"Why?" I asked.

"In the tribe, when you turn eighteen the elders pair you with a compatible mate," Valerie started.

"A mate?" I said, "That doesn't sound very romantic." No wonder my dad hated the tribe.

"It's not as bad as you may think. Even if you aren't friends with your mate, you soon become best friends," Valerie countered, "My mate and I didn't spend any time together before we got paired but after we got very close."

"Where is he now?"

"He died."

Oh God. Way to go, Marina.

"We're so sorry," Jet said softly.

"Thank you," Valerie said, "Anyway, Deirdre didn't like the idea of being married to someone she didn't love, even if she knew she might come to love the person over time. She didn't want to take the chance that things wouldn't work out. So, she left."

"Just like that?"

"Well, no. See, unless you are with a clan on an expedition, you aren't allowed to leave the tribe."

"At all?" I asked incredulously. I was starting to truly understand why my dad faked his own death to get away.

"You can go outside the walls to explore and stuff but you can't go alone or be gone for more than four hours at a time," Valerie explained, "And Deirdre was always a bit of free spirit. She felt so confined in the tribe—she constantly got citations for being outside the wall for too long." Valerie smiled at the memory. "Anyway, on the night before her eighteenth birthday, I caught her sneaking out of our house. When I asked her where she was going, she said she was leaving, that she was going to find a better life for herself. I asked her why and she told me that there was much more to life than what the tribe offered. She said we deserved to be free. I didn't understand what she meant then, but I do now."

"Did you ever see or hear from your sister again?" Jet asked quietly.

Valerie shook her head. "No," she said then looked up at Jet, "but you really do look a lot like her. I think you may be her son."

Jet was silent. I didn't think he knew what to say. The woman sitting in front of him could very well have been his aunt—the first blood relative he ever met.

From her pocket, Valerie pulled out a photograph that was torn at the edges. Very carefully, she placed it on the table in front of Jet. I leaned in closer to him to see clearer. The picture showed to young girls. They had their arms around each other and were smiling. One had curly brown hair and blue eyes like Valerie and the other straight black hair with green eyes…like Jet. Judging by the picture, there was no doubt about it.

Deirdre was Jet's real mother.

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	14. Swept Away

Deciding to give Jet and Valerie some time alone, I joined Skye and Kelsey in the living room. Skye had turned on Beauty & the Beast for the young girl. Kelsey swiveled her head around to look at me when I entered the room.

"Who are you?" she asked bluntly.

Skye smiled at her. "This is my sister, Marina," she said kindly.

I smiled at Kelsey too. "What's your name?" I asked her, even though I already knew it.

"Kelsey," she said, "I'm a bunny."

I was slightly stunned at the ease with which she explained what animal she could turn into, but I guess living in the tribe her whole life, without having to hide what she is, would do that to you. It was a good thing she wasn't living with normal people—although, a child constantly saying she's a bunny would probably go unnoticed.

"How old are you?" I asked her.

"Six and a half," she said like a typical child, "What are you?"

"A wolf," I answered.

Kelsey's eyes widened. "Like what attacks Belle?" she asked, pointing to the T.V. screen.

She was at the point in the movie where the Beast is preparing for his big dinner with Belle. I realized she had already watched the part where Belle runs away and the Beast rescues her from a pack of wolves. "Oh no," I assured her, "I would never hurt anyone."

For the first time since I walked in the room Kelsey smiled. "Oh good," she said and turned back to the T.V. Sitting down on the couch next to Skye, I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I had a new text from Bella. Unlocking my phone, I read, "Need a swim. Meet me at the beach! Pleaseeeee". I checked the time—she had only texted me five minutes ago. I texted her back, telling her I would meet her there in ten minutes. Standing up again, I addressed Kelsey, "It was very nice to meet you, Kelsey."

The girl didn't even turn around at the sound of her name—she was too engrossed in the movie once more—either that or I just wasn't very good with kids.

Stopping in the kitchen to let Jet know I would be back soon, I grabbed my car keys and headed back outside. Although I knew my dad had forbidden us to shift because of the hunters, I knew there was no way hunters could follow me out at sea.

I drove the short distance between my house and my secret beach. I hopped out of my Jeep and looked up at the sky. Clouds were forming but they were nowhere near black enough to be storm clouds. Bounding down the hidden path to the beach, I saw that Bella was already seated in the sand, waiting for me.

"It's not even Friday yet," I said as I approached her.

She turned her head to look at me and smiled. "I couldn't wait," she said.

"There's no one else here right?" I asked, glancing around at the nearby trees. After what happened with the hunters the other day, I didn't want to ever be caught off guard again.

Bella frowned. "Of course not."

I tried to erase the concern from my face. I hadn't told Bella about the hunters knowing Jet and I were shapeshifters—in fact, I hadn't told Bella about our confrontation with the hunters at all. I didn't want her to worry. Besides, the hunters weren't after her. They were after shapeshifters. Odds were they didn't even know mermaids existed. But then again, they knew shapeshifters existed. How did they know shapeshifters existed? My first instinct was to say that they had seen Henry shift, but that wouldn't explain what the hunter that chased me said about having the upper hand and the color of my real eyes.

I tried to shake the thoughts of the hunter from my mind as I undressed, but the image of the smile he had on his face when he knew he caught me was unmoving. It was as if someone had tattooed the shape, the color, the smoothness of the hunter's lips on the front of my brain. The most unnerving part of it was that I felt as if the tattoo artist had begun to draw the smile before I saw it on the hunter—as if I had seen it before that day in the woods.

"Marina!" Bella called from the water, "Come on!"

I quickly hid my clothes under a bush and ran into the water, shifting into my dolphin form as I ducked under. We swam for awhile, fooling around—twirling and flipping—every so often. But after about an hour a ker-plunking on the surface above our heads told us it had begun to rain. Together we swam to the top and I shifted back.

"We should probably go back," Bella said, looking around.

"Yeah, it looks like there is going to be a bad storm," I said, just as a wave swelled over our heads, pulling us under once more. I immediately shifted into my dolphin form again and followed Bella back towards our beach, but we were pretty far out—my guess was we still had an hour's swim before we reached the beach.

We swam fast. We knew that the longer we stayed in the water, the rougher the ocean got. Every time we had to surface for air, the storm had gotten worse. We had to dive down a little lower to avoid being thrown around by the enlarging waves above us each time we submerged.

We were about fifteen minutes away from the beach when Bella stopped, motioning that she needed another breath. I nodded and followed her to the surface—fighting the strength of the current the entire time.

As soon as my head broke the raging surface of the water, I heard Bella scream my name. She was pointing to a small, white sailboat a couple yards away. The boat was rocking so much I was amazed it was even still afloat. It only had one passenger—a boy desperately trying to gain control of the sailboat despite the storm raging around him.

The boy was soaking wet from the rain—his blonde hair looking more brownish in the darkness of the storm and streaks of it plastered to his face. I couldn't believe it. I really couldn't believe it.

The boy on the boat was Brad.

Bella and I watched as he struggled against the force of the ocean. His biceps bulged as his pushed and pulled the oars on either side of the boat. But with the power of the storm, there was no way he was going to be able to paddle to shore. Then, as if he had heard my thoughts and couldn't resist contradicting me, his sailboat started moving towards shore. A triumphant smile flashed across his face.

That was when I felt myself sinking.

Despite the heavy rain, I saw his facial expression perfectly—I saw his _smile_ perfectly. Why? Because I already had the image ingrained in my brain.

Brad was the hunter.

How had I not put it together before? The sound of Brad's voice was like nails on a chalkboard for me. Why hadn't my mind connected the hunter's voice to Brad sooner?

Brad was a hunter—not just any hunter—a hunter who hunted shapeshifters. And he was eating lunch with two shapeshifters five days a week. I had four classes with him—he was going to school with a shapeshifter and didn't know it. He had no idea that the girl he liked to annoy the hell out of was the same creature he had wanted to kill on his hunting trip.

In the next second, a huge wave swelled over Brad's head and tipped the sailboat over. And, for one brief, peaceful millisecond I felt as if I had gotten my revenge.

"Brad!" Bella screamed, lunging forward, and that peace was gone.

Shifting back again, I grabbed hold of Bella's arm. "What are you doing?" I yelled over the storm.

"I have to save him!" she yelled back, "I can't let him drown!"

Yards away I saw Brad surface, only to be tossed back under by another wave, but I still didn't let go of Bella. Part of me didn't want Brad to be saved. He was a hunter—he had probably killed before—he had wanted to kill me. But I couldn't just stand by and watch him die. It wasn't right.

"He can't see you like this!" I shouted to Bella.

She shook her head, her eyes glassy, and, I knew despite the ocean water and the rain, she was crying. "I don't care!"

"Get to the beach!" I shouted as I stared into her eyes, "I'll save Brad!" I let go of Bella's arm and shifted once more into my dolphin form. I dove under again and found Brad tumbling through the water. Catching him on his stomach, I lifted my head, pushing him towards the surface of the water.

He gasped for air when we broke through the water. I maneuvered through the crashing waves, doing my best to stay above water—although that wasn't always possible—while Brad desperately clung to my dorsal fin.

By the time I got close enough for Brad to swim to shore on his own, my entire body ached and my tail felt like it was going to fall off. I watched as Brad crawled out of the water and collapsed coughing on the sand before I dove deep down under the water and swam back to where I knew Bella would be waiting—the whole time thinking about how I had just saved the life of the person who wanted me dead.

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**Lauren 111: Don't worry, I will still post chapter updates to this story on FanFiction. However, I will most likely take down Secrets on the Shore of California soon because the story I want to publish is based off of that story. **


	15. Uncovered

Come morning I had resolved to tell Jet everything—what I had learned about the prophecy, how Brad was a hunter, how I saved Brad from drowning—everything. I had never kept this much from him before and I knew he deserved to know. He was forever my confidante and I needed to use him. Although, I was fine at the moment, I was sure that the pressure would eventually get to me. I had to tell Jet everything.

I waited for him in the parking lot half an hour before everyone else started arriving as usual. I had already deposited his clothes far into the woods by the school. Now, I was just waiting for him to emerge from the trees. I realized that I should probably be giving him a ride to _and _from school since we were being hunted, but I knew Jet would refuse even if I did offer. He would insist that he could handle a few measly hunters. But maybe I would change him mind once I told him that Brad was one of them.

I pulled my phone out of my bag that lay on the floor by the passenger seat and checked the time. Jet would probably be here in five minutes. I put my phone back in my bag and ran my hands along the steering wheel, staring at the woods in front of me.

"Hey!"

I jumped, my head snapping to the right. Brad was hanging in my open passenger window. "Wha-what are you doing here?" I stammered.

He smiled that cocky smile at me. "I go to school here, remember?" Pulling on the door handle, he opened the door and slid in the seat next to me.

That was where Jet was supposed to sit. That was twice that Brad had stolen Jet's seat, but I couldn't seem to open my mouth. I was at a loss of words. What was I supposed to say? You can't sit there? Get out? I could—I should of—but I didn't. Even though Brad was a jerk and a hunter who wanted to kill shapeshifters, I didn't tell him to leave.

"So," Brad said, still smiling, "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I go to school here too," I said, throwing his own answer back at him, hoping to frustrate him.

All it did was make him laugh. "Touché," he said, "Okay, I'll rephrase my question. What are you doing here so early?"

I had a strong feeling Brad would be able to tell when I was lying, like Jet always could. How could I tell him the truth without making him suspicious? "I'm always here early," I told him, "I'm waiting for Jet."

"Ah, I see," Brad said, looking away from me.

I felt my cheeks begin to heat up as soon as I realized what he thought I was telling him—that Jet and I get to school early so we could make out. I wasn't going to correct him though—it was the best explanation besides the truth.

"What are _you_ doing here so early?" I asked after awhile.

"I had to get out of the house."

"Why?" I asked bluntly.

"My parents were fighting again," he said quietly.

"Oh, ah, sorry," I said sheepishly. Way to go Marina. You put your foot in your mouth…again. Two days in a row.

Staring at Brad, I realized he was just a normal guy. Besides being a shapeshifter hunter, he was a kid who had recently moved and who had parents who fought with one another. I actually felt bad for Brad for a second. But then I started to wonder if his parents were fighting over what the best way to trap and kill a shapeshifter was, and my sympathy completely disappeared. Instead, my head was filled with images of a house with animal pelts hanging all over the walls and Brad's mother holding a bow and arrow in hand while his father swung a rifle—the two unable to come to an agreement on which weapon was better.

Brad was a hunter. And I couldn't forget that…_ever_.

Looking away from Brad, I saw Jet step out of the woods. When he noticed me sitting in my car with Brad, the edges of his mouth turned down ever so slightly. No one but me could have noticed that he didn't look particularly happy—not that I blamed him of course—_I _didn't like the fact that Brad was sitting with me.

Brad was the hunter who chased Jet and I through the woods. He was the one who aimed his gun at my head. He was the one who taunted me—the one who wondered what color my eyes and hair were—the one who saw…the colorful light. I stared at Brad again, as if seeing him for the first time. If I was right, and Brad really did see my aura the other day, then he should have an aura of his own.

"Here comes John," Brad said.

I didn't answer him. I had to know if I was right. I had to know if Brad wasn't just a hunter but a supernatural hunting other supernaturals. I allowed my gaze to fall on his blue eyes and then expand to encompass his entire form—just as Tommy taught me, Jet and Bella last spring.

"Marina?"

Nothing. I repeated the process, concentrating harder, thinking about everything I knew about Brad as I widened my field of vision.

"Marina?" Brad asked again, taking my arm and shaking it slightly, "Are you okay?"

I shook my head slightly, trying not to fixate on the air surrounding Brad—air that was impossibly empty. "Yeah, fine," I said, looking away quickly. There was no color surrounding Brad. No light. No aura. No nothing. Brad was 100 percent human.

"John doesn't drive to school, does he?" Brad asked suddenly.

"Huh? What?" I said, snapping my attention back to my current enemy.

"He doesn't have a car of his own, right?" Brad asked, his eyebrows furrowed as he stared at Jet, "I see you drive him home every day after school."

"Yeah, so?"

"And he doesn't have a car?" Brad asked again.

"No," I answered, my eyes moving from Brad to Jet, who was making his way across the parking lot towards us.

"He doesn't get a ride to school from someone else either," Brad said. His tone made it clear that he wasn't asking another question, but voicing a observation instead.

"How do you know?" I asked, a hint of defensiveness sneaking its way into my voice before I could stop it.

"We've been sitting here for fifteen minutes, and not one other car has driven in front of us. The only cars that have come into the school drove around back to the teacher's parking lot," Brad said. Then, turning to look at me, he asked, "How does John get to school, Marina?"

Crap. Crap. Crap. How does Jet get to school? He runs through the woods as a black wolf!

"He walks!" I blurted out.

"He walks?" Brad repeated. He craned his neck to look back at Jet.

I nodded fervently. "It's not too far really. He likes to get some mild exercise in before school starts." A statement that technically wasn't a lie—what Jet did each morning was exercise.

Brad didn't answer. He just stared at Jet—his eyes narrowing.

And I stared at Brad. There was something familiar about his facial expression. I felt like I had seen it before, only not on Brad—on someone else. His eyes were focused on Jet—who, by now, had just about reached my Jeep—and his pupils seemed to grow larger the longer he stared. Someone, I realized, had looked at _me_ that way before. But who? And when?

The realization hit us both at the same time, as if we were slapped by the same person. Brad's mouth fell open slightly and his eyes widened. I couldn't help but to copy him—because I hadn't been wrong.

The look on Brad's face told me so. It was the same look I had seen on Bella's months ago when Tommy first taught us how to see auras. I wasn't wrong. Even if Brad didn't have an aura of his own, he could see others. According to Tommy, it was impossible, but I knew from the look on Brad's face that he could see auras.

And, at that moment, Brad was staring at Jet's.

It was like my worst nightmare was coming true. I didn't know how, but Brad was able to see auras. He could see Jet's, and somehow he knew what the changing colors meant. It wasn't just any old nightmare, it was the absolute worst one possible. Jet's secret was discovered by a hunter, and not just any old hunter, a hunter who specifically targeted shapeshifters.

Brad didn't know about me. I had to protect my secret. But I also had to protect Jet from Brad.

I immediately opened the car door—fear still pulsing through my veins—I had to keep Brad away from Jet. "Let's go," I said as normally as I could, though I was sure my voice sounded an octave higher than usual. I shut the car door without waiting for Brad to answer. Leaning my back against the cool metal of the door, I took a deep breath. Everything would be fine. I could handle this.

I jumped when the door on the passenger side shut. Walking around the front of the car, I spared a glance at Brad. He was still staring at Jet but he didn't have his "I'm-seeing-your-aura" look on his face anymore.

Jet came up to me smiling—completely oblivious to the danger he was in. I glanced over to Brad again but then quickly looked back at Jet.

"Hey," I said, reaching for him.

He pulled me into a hug, placing a soft kiss on the top of my head. "Good morning," he said.

"Come on," I said, pulling him towards the school building—even though we still had lots of time before class started. I just had to get away from Brad.

As we walked, Jet placed his arm over my shoulder. "So," Jet said, "I talked to my parents and I found the adoption agency they used."

"Really?" I asked, trying to sound happy, but I was still thinking about Brad, "That's great."

Jet nodded. "It's not far from here. I was hoping we could head over there today after school."

"Yeah, sure." I was up for anything as long as it kept Brad away from Jet.

It wasn't until we slipped inside that the weight of Brad's gaze on my back lifted. Too bad I would have to face him again in less than half an hour.


	16. New Rules

By nothing short of a miraculous stroke of luck, I managed to avoid Brad in every class and even during lunch. Unfortunately, my luck ran out by the end of the day. Jet had agreed to meet me at my car outside once school let out. I actually thought I would be able to make it to my car without running into Brad. Little did I know, he had already planned on confronting me.

Thinking about what homework I had that night, I grabbed the folders and textbooks I needed and stuffed them in my bag. Glancing inside the metal locker once more to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything, I shut the door and nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Oh God, Brad!" I exclaimed, trying to regain control of my rapid breathing, "You scared me."

He was frowning to me, but thankfully wasn't looking at me like he could my aura. "Why?" he asked.

I shrugged, trying to act casual. "I wasn't expecting you to be standing there."

"You've been avoiding me all day."

"No I haven't," I said, maybe a little too quickly. Brad's eyes narrowed at me.

"Marina, we have four classes together and we sit together at lunch, but you haven't spoken to me since early this morning."

I looked away from him. "I've just been busy."

"No, that's not it. It almost seems like…" he reached a hand out towards my arm and I instinctively jerked away, "you're scared of me." Brad finished as he pulled his hand back down to his side.

"That's ridiculous," I told him but was still unable to look him in the eye. "I have to go." I turned and started walking down the hall, still feeling his gaze on my back. Behind me, I heard Brad say something. I turned back around, "What?"

"You know," he said vaguely.

"Know what?" I asked.

Brad walked forward, closing the distance between us. He grabbed my wrist before I could jerk away, glancing around the hallway, and pulled me towards a small alcove that held to the health classrooms. It was narrow, even for an alley, and it made me uncomfortable to be in such a confined space with Brad blocking my only exit. Brad let go of my wrist and I nervously began scratching the skin there until it turned red.

"You know about John," Brad whispered.

"What about him?" I asked, desperately trying to keep my voce even though I was practically hyperventilating. This wasn't good.

He took another step closer to me, causing me to back into the wall of the alcove, and planted his hand on the wall beside my right ear. He was so close that I could feel his body heat emanating from his exposed skin. My breathing was getting harder to control.

With his blue eyes locked on mine, he said, "You know John's really an animal."

Oh crap. I was right. He had seen Jet's aura this morning. Crap, crap, crap. I was so screwed. This was it. He was going to find out what I was too. No—wait, maybe I could still salvage this conversation.

I did my best attempt at a laugh. "What are you talking about?" I asked as incredulously as I could.

Brad's eyes turned to slits as he continued to stare at me. "Don't deny it. I saw your face this morning, and you've been avoiding me ever since. You know John can turn into an animal," his eyes took in the slight fearful expression that flashed across my face, "So, what is it? A deer? A fox? A wolf?"

I laughed again but it came out forced and weak. I was losing this fight. "Turn into an animal? Brad you're crazy."

Brad's hand hit the wall beside my head. "Stop lying!" he shouted. I shrunk down even further, cowering before him. He closed his eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry, Marina, but John is extremely dangerous," he stared into my eyes again, "You need to tell me everything you know."

Dangerous? We weren't dangerous at all. It wasn't like we had an animal brain when we were in our other forms. He actually had no clue.

Standing up straight once more, I said as confidently as I could, "I have no idea what you're talking about." I ducked under Brad's outstretched arm, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go meet Jet in the parking lot." I turned around and had every intention of walking away from Brad, but his next words stopped me in my tracks.

"Jet," he said and laughed.

I spun around. "What?"

Brad laughed again. "Jet. Of course," he said, "The black wolf."

I froze.

"That's why you call him Jet, isn't it?" Brad asked, stepping forward again—that sly, over-confident smile creeping onto his face, "Because, as a wolf, his fur is _jet_-black?"

I couldn't speak, while Brad only smiled wider. I needed to give Jet a new nickname—it was becoming too obvious.

"Na-na-no," I finally managed to stammer.

"It is," Brad said, the smug look on his face unbearable.

"Please," I begged, "You can't tell anyone about him."

"Marina, I don't think you realize the kind of jeopardy you put yourself in every time you're alone with him," Brad said seriously, "I'm a hunter. I've dealt with creatures like John before. You don't have to worry anymore. The other hunters and I will take care of John."

"No!" I said too quickly, "Please, Jet has never done anything to hurt me. Don't tell the other hunters about him. Please, I care about him."

"He's a monster, Marina!" Brad exclaimed and pulled up the side of his shirt to reveal a bite mark that had recently scabbed over, "Look! This is what he did to me when he was a wolf."

"Please," I said again, pleading with him now, "I'll do anything. Just don't tell the other hunters about Jet. I can't bear the thought of anyone killing him. Please, for me?"

Brad studied my expression. Running his hand down the side of his face, he sighed. "Fine—"

"Oh, thank—"

"On one condition."

"Name it."

"You break up with John."

"Break up with him?" I hadn't expected that.

"I already told you, Marina. John is dangerous. Even though he hasn't hurt you in the past, it doesn't mean he won't in the future," Brad said, "It'll be easier for me to protect you if you have already distanced yourself from him."

"But—"

"Okay?"

I stared at Brad. I couldn't let his fellow hunters find out Jet's identity. They would surely kill him if they knew. It was bad enough that Brad knew, but as long as I kept Brad from telling anyone else and killing Jet himself, Jet would be safe. Jet would be alive. And that was all that mattered—even if we couldn't be together.

"Okay," I said, defeated.

"Good," Brad smiled, "Now, let's go."

"Go where?" I asked.

"You said you had to meet John in the parking lot, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, I hope you can come up with a good excuse for breaking up in the two minutes it'll take to walk out there," he said.

My eyes widened in shock. He wanted me to break up with Jet right now?

Brad smiled. "Personally, I think the whole 'in-love-with-another-man' would be best. Guys get angry about it but don't tend to question it."

"I-I can't," I said, my voice small again.

Brad's smile disappeared. "You can and you will—unless you want me to reveal John's animal instincts."

"No. No," I said fiercely, "I'll do it."

"Great. Let's go."

I solemnly followed Brad out of the building to the parking lot. My eyes immediately found Jet. He was casually leaning against my Jeep, his muscled arms crossed over his chest.

"I'll be right here if you need me," Brad said and I nodded, starting to walk towards Jet.

His face lit up when he caught sight of me and my heart sank faster than a bowling ball thrown into the ocean. I was doing this for him—to protect him—I had to remember that. When I reached, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a hug. He smelled of dirt and pine—my favorite scent combination.

"Hey," he said, "Where have you been?"

He was so perfect and I loved him so much—I had no clue how I was going to do this, but I knew I had to. Jet released me and I stepped away, unable to hold back the tears from gathering in my eyes.

"Hey, hey," Jet said, taking hold of my shoulders and trying to hold my gaze, "what's wrong?"

I opened my mouth but nothing came out. Instead, the tears escaped my eyelids and freely flowed down my cheeks. I shook my head.

Jet immediately pulled me back into his arms. "It's okay," he whispered, "It'll be okay."

Clinging to him, I let myself cry on his shoulder—knowing I was only temporarily putting off the inevitable, but also thankful that I couldn't see Brad's face from this direction.

I had to do this. I took a deep breath and pulled out of Jet's arms. Looking at my feet, I tried to speak. "Jet, I-I…"

Cupping my cheeks in his hands, Jet turned my face up to look me in the eye. "Why don't we get out of here?" he said, a soft smile tugging on his lips.

Before I could stop myself, I was nodding. Jet led me over to the passenger side and opened the door for me to climb inside.

"Give me your keys," he said, "I'll drive."

I willingly obliged. Jet walked around and hopped in the driver's seat beside me. As we pulled away from the high school, I caught Brad's eye—he didn't look happy. I could only hope that my expression told him I wasn't going back on our agreement, because I wasn't. Above everything else, I had to keep Jet safe.

I just needed more time.

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed! You guys are awesome! Now, this may come as no surprise, but…please review again! This chapter didn't go where I expected it to and I hope you like it! :)**


	17. Dogs and Doorsteps

Jet didn't say anything for awhile, he just drove. I didn't know where he was going but I didn't care. I just wanted to get away from Brad, even if it was only temporarily. I wanted as much time with Jet as possible before I had to do the inevitable.

I glanced over at him. His eyes were focused on the road but he was relaxed in the driver's seat, as if he could drive all day. And maybe he could…maybe we could run away together. It would be perfect. I wouldn't have to break up with him. There would be no Brad and no hunters. There would be no prophecy. There would just be me and Jet. Not only would I not have to worry about Jet getting killed, but we could be together.

Jet looked over at me and smiled. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Let's run away," I blurted out.

His eyes shifted to the road and then back to me. "You want to…"

"Run away," I said firmly, the excitement of the idea building inside of me, "let's just get out of here. Drive and never look back."

Jet looked back at the road ahead and sighed. "Marina," he said softly. He reached for my hand and gently squeezed it, "You know we can't."

I didn't say anything.

"I know you're worried about these hunters, but we'll be okay. We'll get through this."

I still didn't say anything, but I knew he was right. Ourlives were here—we couldn't just abandon them and everyone in them we loved. But because he was right I was going to have to leave him.

"Marina, you okay?" Jet asked and lightly squeezed my hand again, "You're not mad, are you?"

I forced a smile on my face. "No," I said, "it was just a crazy idea."

"Maybe someday we can run away together," Jet said, glancing my expression—worry painted across his own face.

"Yeah," I answered, "Maybe."

We were both silent for awhile. I knew Jet could tell something was wrong, he could always tell—just as he could always tell I was lying—but this time, he couldn't know the real reason for why I was upset. After a couple minutes, Jet turned my Jeep into a parking lot in front of an old-looking office building. What was this place and what were we doing here?

"Do you mind?" Jet asked, gesturing to the building, "The head of the adoption agency told me she would be free to talk to me at four."

Oh! Of course! I completely forgot that the whole reason I had to meet Jet in the parking lot was so that we could go to the adoption agency together to see if we could find out anything about his birth parents—specifically his mother.

I shook my head. This was important to him—I couldn't deny him possible answers to his true ancestry.

"You can wait here if you're not up for it," Jet said.

"No, no. It's okay," I assured him, unbuckling my seatbelt, "I want to come." If these were going to be the last few moments I was going to get to spend with him in awhile—or at least until I figured out a better way to deal with Brad—then I wanted to spend every second with him. I followed Jet into the building where we were confronted with a receptionist who had had an unfortunate hair-dying incident—the poor woman's hair looked like a pumpkin met a candy apple.

Clearly trying not to stare at the woman's hair, Jet walked up to the desk and said, "Umm, hi. I'm John Holten." The woman didn't look up from the surface of her desk. "I called earlier and spoke to a Carol?"

The woman with the awfully-colored orange hair finally looked up at Jet and her sour face sweetened into a smile. "Oh yes," she said, staring at Jet, "Carol will be right with you. In the mean time I will need to see your I.D.—you know, privacy issues and stuff—can't have someone looking through another person's information."

"Of course," Jet said, pulling his wallet out of the back pocket of his shorts and handing the receptionist his driver's license.

The woman's eyes flitted from Jet's picture on the license to the teenage boy standing before her. She then began typing on the computer beside her, most likely checking the information on the I.D. with her records. A screen flashed up on the computer and the woman smiled again. She turned back to Jet and handed him his license back. "Looks like you check out," she said, smiling even wider than before—so much that I couldn't imagine a smile that wide wouldn't hurt my mouth.

"Uh, thanks," Jet said.

"John?" A woman with short, curly red hair—natural red hair, nothing like the color of the receptionist's—poked her head out of an open doorway behind the receptionist's desk. Neither Jet nor I said anything. The woman with the real red hair walked out from behind the desk and held her hand out to Jet. "I'm Carol," she said, "I believe we spoke earlier?"

Jet put a smile on his face. "Yes!" he said, and then gesturing to me added, "This is my girlfriend, Marina."

Carol smiled at me and said, "Nice to meet you." Turning, and beckoning us forward, she led us down a hallway. "What can I do for you Mr. Holten?"

"Well, I was hoping you had some information on my birth parents," Jet said as Carol led us into a small office.

"I can pull the file for you," she said, but then a sad smile fell onto her face, "but I have to warn you that most kids who come in here looking for information on where they came from often leave disappointed."

"At this point, I'll take whatever I can get," Jet said.

Carol pursed her lips. "Well, okay. Stay here, I'll be right back with the file." She left, leaving Jet and I alone.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Jet?" I asked, "She's right. You may not like what you find."

He nodded. "I need to know what happened to my mother after she left the tribe—where she went, who my father is, why she gave me up."

"Here it is!" Carol sang as she strutted back into the tiny room. She handed a very thin manila folder to Jet. "I'll just give you some privacy," she said, "I'll be down the hall if you two need anything."

"Thank you," Jet said as Carol left the room once again. Laying the folder on the desk in front of us, he carefully opened it so it was flat against the wooden surface. There were only two sheets of paper in the folder. Jet glanced at the first but then quickly put it down—opting to read the second instead.

I picked up the first and read it. It was a birth certificate—only it wasn't exactly complete. Under "Child's Full Name" someone had written John, but after that most of the answers were listed as unknown. "Mother's Maiden Name", "Father's Name", "Place of Birth", even the "Birth Date"—John's birthday, December 15th—was listed as only being an estimation of the date. Looking at the blank document, I felt sorry for Jet. He had come here looking for answers, only to realize that the adoptions agency didn't even know if December 15th was his real birthday. He already knew more than they did thanks to Valerie telling him his mother's name was Deirdre.

I carefully placed the birth certificate back in the folder and leaned over to see what Jet was examining on the second sheet of paper. "Find anything?"

Jet's mouth was open in a form of slight shock.

"What is it?"

"It's an account of the night I arrived at the orphanage," he said, not looking up from the piece of paper.

The date at the top of the paper was from almost sixteen years ago—Jet couldn't have been more than a year old when he was left at the orphanage. "The date…" I started, "Does that mean…"

"Yeah," Jet said, answering my question before I could gather the nerve to ask it, "My mother kept me for a year before giving me up."

"Oh, Jet," I said, leaning on his shoulder, "I'm so sorry." I was even happier that I didn't have the courage to break up with him before—he needed me now.

"Thanks," he said, smiling slightly, "But, here, listen to this. This is where it gets weird."

I scooted my chair closer to him as he began to read in a hushed tone.

"It was around one o'clock in the morning when I thought I heard a cry. I assumed it was one of the infants, but when I walked into the hall I didn't hear anything. Then I heard the cry again—it seemed to be coming from outside. I walked downstairs and peeked out the window but didn't see anything. However, when I opened the front door I found a large German Shepherd standing on the porch with an infant lying at its paws. I was so stunned I didn't even think to shoo the dog away, but I didn't have to. The dog looked at me and then at the baby before it slowly turned away and walked down the steps—disappearing into the night."

"So, a dog left you at the orphanage?" I asked.

Jet shook his head, smiling. "No! Well, yes, technically," he said, staring at me significantly, "Oh come on, Marina! Don't you see? The dog wasn't a dog. It was my mother!"

My eyes widened. "Your mother? You think your mother was this German Shepherd?"

"I'm sure of it!" he exclaimed, "Next time I see Valerie, I can confirm it with her."

"But, Jet," I started, "why would your mother be in her animal form when she dropped you at the orphanage?"

Jet frowned. "I'm not sure," he said, "Maybe she didn't want anyone to know she was my mother."

"But why not?"

"I don't know. I don't know," he said again, "But it's something."

I nodded.

He put the paper back in the folder and closed it. "Come on, let's go." He grabbed the folder and I followed him out of the office and back down the hallway to the receptionist's desk.

"I hope it was helpful," Carol said as she took the folder back.

"Very," Jet said, "Thanks again."

Together we turned to leave. "I have to talk to Valerie again," Jet whispered to me, "Maybe she knows more than she thinks she does."

"She did live with your mom for fourteen years—not to mention in the supposed 'all-controlling' tribe with tons of other shapeshifters…" I said, letting my sentence drift off. The tribe. The tribe was made up of only shapeshifters—shapeshifters who have known their true origin since birth—families that have lived in the area for centuries most likely or even longer maybe. Why hadn't I realized it before? If I wanted to find out about the prophecy, I needed to talk to someone who was from the tribe.

"Marina?" Jet asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Yeah?"

But Jet didn't answer. His eyes only narrowed while his eyebrows turned down.

"Jet?" I asked, "What is it?"

I got my answer as soon as my eyes followed Jet's gaze to the small parking lot in front of us. At the edge of the sidewalk, with one ankle crossed over the other and the lower half of his body leaning against the slight black hood of his Charger, was Brad.

Lifting a hand to angle his Ray Ban sunglasses down a bit, his gaze locked on me and he smiled.

**SIX REVIEWS for one chapter?! Wow, you guys really are the most amazingest (not a word I know, but it fits) readers ever. THANK YOU SO MUCH! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I am already working on the next for you as an extra thanks. Please review again and I will do my best to make sure it is up before Saturday! :)**


	18. Stranded at Sea

**THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I never expected as many reviews as I got. YOU ARE ALL SOOOOOOO INCREDIBLE! As promised, here is the next chapter. Marina's starting to get in over her head….uh oh. ;) Enjoy!**

"What are you doing here, Brad?" I demanded, forgetting for a second that Jet's life was dependent on Brad's mouth, "Did you follow me here?"

Brad didn't respond. He simply stared at me from behind his sunglasses. Brad's lack of response only fueled Jet's rising anger towards him.

"She asked you a question!" Jet shouted to Brad, taking a menacing step towards him.

I quickly reached an arm out to stop Jet. I knew this could get out of hand real fast and I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let Brad reveal Jet's secret and I couldn't let Jet kill Brad—no matter how much I wanted him to.

"Come on, Marina," Brad said.

"She's not going anywhere with you," Jet growled.

This time I placed a hand on Jet's chest to hold him back, but Brad wasn't paying any attention to Jet. He was looking at me—his eyes conveying a message much faster than his lips ever could.

"It's okay," I said, turning to Jet.

My words broke his concentration and his head snapped in my direction. "What?" he asked—unsure he had heard me right.

"It's okay," I repeated, "I'll go with him."

Jet's frown deepened. He took me by the shoulders and looked into my eyes as his filled with concern. "You don't have to go with him."

It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do—and it was only to force a smile on my face when I wanted to cry. "It's okay," I said for a third time, "I don't mind."

Then, very slowly and very deliberately, I removed Jet's hands from my shoulders and looked away from him. I began walking towards Brad, who held open the passenger door for me. I climbed in, immediately uncomfortable in the smooth leather seats. Brad slammed the door shut behind me and walked around to the driver's side. I looked out the window as Brad slid in the seat beside me. Brad started the car and pulled away from the adoption agency, leaving Jet standing there on the sidewalk—completely stunned.

I watched Jet in the side mirror until we turned out of the adoption agency and headed back towards a main road. I was angry—no, I was furious. I didn't think I had ever hated Brad more than I did now. Not only had he purposely followed me, but he had basically kidnapped me. Yes, yes, I know _technically_ I went with him willingly, but the word "willingly" can't really apply if the person is being blackmailed—which was exactly what Brad was doing to me. He promised he wouldn't tell anyone Jet's secret if I broke up with Jet. He was using Jet's secret against me. I could only imagine what he would do if he knew I had the same secret. I shuddered at the thought.

But I had to remember that, at least for now, he didn't know I was a shapeshifter too. Any suspicion he might have had before he most certainly discarded when he found out about Jet—believing me to the stupid, lovesick girlfriend of a monster. Apparently, me knowing the secret of my boyfriend was explanation enough for my previous suspicious behavior.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked Brad, but refused to look at him.

"We're going to do something fun," was his response. He couldn't seem to bear the thought of looking at me either. Apparently we were both angry with the other.

"That doesn't answer my question," I spat.

Beside me I heard Brad sigh. "I'm taking you to the docks," he said.

"What are you going to do? Hogtie me and throw me over the edge?" I laughed—but it wasn't my normal laugh—it was short and full of sarcasm. I finally peeked over at Brad. He wasn't smiling like I was.

"No," he told me, "like I said, we're going to have some fun."

"Something tells me your idea of fun is a lot different from mine," I said, my tone biting.

"Not this time."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked.

"I told you to stay away from John," Brad said, "but you didn't listen. So I had to get you away from him."

"You told me to break up with him," I said, my voice sharp and pointed.

Brad looked over at me for the first time. "And did you?" he asked, significantly.

"No, not yet," I said. He turned his attention back to the road. "But just give me some time. You're asking an awful lot of me."

"_I'm_ asking a lot of you? _You're_ asking me to defy my nature and protect a monster!" Brad said raising his voice.

"So?! _You're_ asking me to break up with the love of my life! I think I win." I shouted at him.

He frowned. "It's for your own good."

I glared at him. "Since when did I get a third parent?"

"Since you decided it was a good idea to date someone so unstable and dangerous."

I didn't answer him—I just continued to glare at the road ahead of us.

Brad drove towards the beach—well, technically towards the docks, I guess. He parked the car and we got out.

"So what are we doing?" I asked.

Brad smiled to himself. "Jet-skiing."

"Jet-skiing?"

Brad led me to the end of a dock where a jet-ski sat tied to the post. I would have thought almost drowning in a storm would have made Brad stay clear of the ocean for awhile, but no. He jumped in the seat without another moment's hesitation.

"Hop on," he said to me as he put the key in the ignition.

I hesitated.

"Come on," he said, smiling at me, "it'll be fun. I promise."

"Fine," I said, giving in as I climbed onto the jet-ski behind Brad.

"Hold on," Brad said, returning to his mischievous self. I didn't want to, but as soon as Brad revved the engine I needed to. Squeezing him around the waist, I held on for dear life as he sped away from the docks and out into the ocean. He drove around for a bit and I was able to relax my grip—I was getting used to the motion of the jet-ski. And I had to admit, it was actually fun—though I would never tell Brad that—I couldn't give him the satisfaction of being right. He was already _too_ full of himself.

Just then, Brad looked back at me with his typical sly smile slapped across his face. We were headed right towards an abnormally large wave. Oh crap. He wasn't actually thinking of going over it, was he?

"Hold on tight," he told me, then faced forward again.

Crap, he was.

I wrapped my arms around him—locking them as tightly as I could—and buried my face between his shoulder blades in anticipation of the jump. There was no way we were going to make it over this wave without getting thrown off.

Brad sped up—the jet-ski smoothly bumping over the smaller waves leading up to the larger one. We were almost there. I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt the jet-ski soar up the incline. Then we were airborne. I couldn't help but let out a small shriek of delight—it was terrifying, but also exhilarating—just like the upside-down roller coasters at amusement parks.

We landed back on the surface of the water with a distinctive splash and my forehead hit against the bones in Brad's spinal cord. Brad slowed the jet-ski to a stop.

"You okay?" he asked.

I nodded, smiling from the thrill of the jump—my cheek still pressed against his back. "Take me home," I said. This was wrong. I couldn't be having fun with Brad. Right now, Brad was the enemy—the one who was blackmailing me—the reason I wasn't with Jet at that moment.

Brad didn't say anything but he obliged, turning the jet-ski around and heading back towards the docks. When we reached them, I hopped off the jet-ski as fast as I could and immediately began walking away from Brad. Once he tied up the jet-ski, I could hear his thudding footsteps as he ran to catch up with me.

"Take me home," I said again.

"Alright," was all Brad said. He didn't argue, he didn't complain.

We climbed into his Charger and Brad drove off. Less than twenty minutes later, we were sitting in the driveway in front of my house. I opened the passenger door and got out, not bothering to look back at Brad as I made my way towards the house.

"Hey!" Brad called from the open window of his car, "I told you it'd be fun!"

I turned and saw that he was smiling at me again. I didn't answer him—I couldn't. I couldn't admit that yes, he was right—I did have fun. In fact, I had _too_ much fun. How was it that even when Brad was taking everything from me I could still be happy?

I stared into his blue eyes—so different, and so much more piercing than Jet's. But it was Jet's that I preferred—I knew that. That was all I had to do whenever I was with Brad—remember Jet's beautiful green eyes—and I would be okay. I could get through this. I had to get through this—just so Jet and I could be together again.

But I couldn't stop the right edge of my lip from turning up in a half-smile as I watched Brad back out of my driveway.


	19. On Edge

**THANK YOU soooo much to everyone who reviewed! I'm REALLY sorry that this next chapter took so long, it wasn't an easy one to write. Also, sorry if it's a bit boring to read, but don't worry—things are going to get pretty intense starting with the next chapter and going all the way to the end. Get excited because I'm already pumped! Haha ;)**

I stayed cooped up in my room all weekend, pretending to be sick. Although all the emotional stress I was dealing with could have very well made me truly sick. Call me a coward if you will, but I simply couldn't face Jet—not after the look he gave me when I got into Brad's car Friday afternoon. And I certainly couldn't see Brad again—it would only make things worse. So, instead of confronting my problems like I should have, I hid under my bed covers, rereading Harry Potter and watching old episodes of Burn Notice—part of me wondering if real sorcerers were anything like wizards.

At some point on Saturday, Skye came up to tell me that Jet was here, but I told her to tell him I was asleep. Initially she didn't believe me, saying she could bring him up, but when I shook my head furiously and begged her not to, she agreed. Huddled in a fetal position in the center of my bed, I listened as my little sister lied to my boyfriend for me. I don't think I had ever felt guiltier than I did then.

So, by the time Monday morning rolled around, I felt like a pretty crappy girlfriend—no, scratch that—a pretty crappy person in general. I wanted to act like nothing was wrong—that I still didn't have to break up with Jet—that Brad wasn't blackmailing me while pretending to be my best friend.

Since when did my life become such a mess?

I even tried to act normal. I forced a smile on my face and arrived early like usual, leaving clothes hidden in the woods for Jet. But as soon as he emerged from the trees I knew things were not normal.

Jet seemed to look everywhere but at me. It didn't take long to figure out who he was looking for: Brad. Apparently Friday afternoon's events were as memorable for him as they were for me. I wanted to tell him I was sorry—that I didn't want to leave him—that I definitely didn't like Brad. But I couldn't.

"Hey," Jet said as he walked up to me.

"Hey," I said back.

And that was it.

We didn't say anything else. We barely looked at each other. I knew this would be the perfect time to break up with him, but I simply couldn't get the words out. I opened my mouth many times but no sound was formed.

"Marina—" Jet started, taking my hand. It felt so nice, to have his hand in mine—familiar, safe.

"Marina!" A voice called from across the parking lot. Brad. Moment over.

I pulled my hand out of Jet's. "I have to go," I said, turning away and walking towards Brad. I didn't look back at Jet, knowing the hurt expression on his face would only make me burst into tears.

Brad didn't say anything when I walked up to him. He looked over my shoulder to Jet and then down at me, but by that point I was already staring at the sneakers on my feet. Placing his arm around my shoulders, Brad led me out of the parking lot and into the school.

This was going to be the worst day of my life.

Okay, maybe that was a bit melodramatic. I had to get a grip. It wasn't like I was going to die—unless of course Brad found out I was a shapeshifter too. Only then would I be doomed. But until that happened, I would survive.

It took me awhile to realize that Brad had led me to my locker.

"Do you need anything for your first class?" he asked gently.

I shook my head—both in response and an attempt to get my mind back to the present. "No," I said, "I've already got everything I need."

Brad nodded slightly. "Well, I have to grab a notebook from my locker, would you like to come with me?"

I finally looked up at him. The expression on his face almost looked like…concern. What was wrong with him? Why was he being so nice to me? What happened to the annoying, egotistical, smart-ass I thought I knew? Who was this new caring Brad? I didn't like him, solely because he was making it awfully hard for me to hate him.

"Sure," I said. I had nothing better to do. I couldn't go and find my friends because Jet would most likely be with them, and I couldn't face him again.

I followed Brad through the filling halls, realizing I had no idea where Brad's locker was. Together, we walked in the direction of the library. I wondered if the school gave all the new kids lockers by the library—first Bella, now Brad.

We rounded the corner and I immediately picked out Bella standing by her locker, her long dirty-blonde hair tied back in a braid. It felt like forever had passed since I had last seen her, but it was only three days ago. Three days ago she thanked me for saving Brad's life. Three days ago I first wished I hadn't. And now, there I was, being forced to hang out with Brad.

I knew what it would look like to everyone—it would look like I liked Brad, as more than a friend that is. But then again, Bella knew me better than anyone (except maybe Jet of course), maybe she would realize something was seriously wrong. And yet, I couldn't have her realize something was wrong. If anyone knew about the agreement between me and Brad, Jet would end up dead at the hands of some hunter.

I walked behind Brad to his locker—it _would_ be only four away from Bella's. Still trying to hide behind Brad, I heard Bella say cheerfully,

"Hey, Brad!"

"Hey," he repeated, but without much enthusiasm. He sounded nothing like the person who had insisted on jumping that huge wave on Friday.

Bella's head appeared in the space between Brad and his open locker. "Oh, uh, hi Marina," she said, her tone of voice reflecting the confused expression on her face.

"Hey, Bella!" I said, as cheerfully as I could manage. But as soon as the words escaped my mouth I realized how fake I sounded. Bella's eyebrows furrowed further and I struggled to keep the smile on my face. Brad grabbed the notebook from his locker.

"How was your weekend?" I asked Bella, attempting to make hasty conversation.

"Good," was all she said. Her eyes moved from me to Brad. I couldn't think of anything else to say. Why was I having such a problem with talking to Bella? Bella was one of two people outside my family who really knew me. Even though I only met her last spring, I was already used to telling her everything—used to not hiding my problems from her. I wanted to tell her who—or rather what—Brad was, how he knew what Jet was, how he was blackmailing me, the emergence of the other shapeshifters from a tribe, the fact that my dad faked his own death to escape that tribe, how Jet's real mom also grew up in the same tribe and now his aunt and cousin are in town with the other shapeshifters, and then of course there was the pressure of being the one some highly important prophecy talked about, all the while not knowing what that prophecy said about me. Going through all that in my head made me wonder why I hadn't cracked yet.

I looked to Bella again. She was still switching her gaze between me and Brad. I was sure she was wondering why I was hanging out with Brad this morning. Little did she know this wasn't the first time I "hung out".

"Come on, Marina," Brad said, closing his locker door, "We better get to class."

He gently placed his hand on the small of my back and started leading me away from Bella. Looking back over my shoulder, I was about to tell Bella that I would see her in AP Lang later, but she had already walked away.

Bella didn't say anything to me during AP Lang that morning. In fact, she didn't talk to me at all for the rest of the school day. Lunch was the worst. After I grabbed a sandwich from the cafeteria, I slowly walked over to our usual table outside, my heart beating so hard and fast that I was afraid it would jump out of my chest. In reality, that would have been preferable to facing Jet and Bella.

Half of me wanted my heart to jump out of my chest while the other half actually hoped Brad would insist on taking me elsewhere for lunch. For the first time ever, no part of me wanted to see Jet. I never thought I'd see the day where I was looking for Brad to save me.

Walking up to the table, I immediately noticed that neither Jet nor Bella were there yet. I was clear—at least for a couple more minutes. I took a seat next to Annie, directly across from Tommy—not my normal seat—but if anyone noticed this, they didn't say anything. Grace and Connor were discussing the theme of the upcoming Homecoming dance when Brad walked up to the table and took the remaining seat next to me.

My friends definitely reacted to that—any conversation that had been taking place unsubtly died out. I focused my eyes down at the sandwich in front of me, trying to avoid the stares of my friends. I knew they were all thinking the same thing—what was going on between Marina and Brad? And that was a question I would like to know the answer to myself.

Brad had been nice to me all day—he was still a bit arrogant, but, somehow, I could easily tell that when he made an egotistical comment he was only joking. And the worst part of it all was that I had to admit Brad no longer annoyed me.

Crap.

It was more than that—I actually liked Brad now—which wouldn't have been a problem had he not been a hunter who wanted any and all shapeshifters six feet under.

I decided to take that moment to chance a glance upwards. Big mistake. It would be my luck that my eyes would find Jet's from all the way across the courtyard amidst the hundreds of pairs of eyes. The look he gave me actually took my breath away, and not in a good way. I saw all his hurt, confusion, and anger in one stare. I felt like someone was trying to squeeze all the blood out of my heart just as someone would squeeze every last drop of orange juice from an orange.

It wasn't long before he turned away—his attention switching to someone else. I followed his gaze to see Bella walking up to him, her lunch in hand. They said something to each other before they turned to look at the lunch table—or rather, me and Brad. I wished more than anything that I didn't have to lie to them.

Bella said something else to Jet and he nodded. Together, the two walked back inside the building. I stared at the closed door ever after Jet and Bella went through it.

Placing a comforting hand on my arm, Brad whispered, "You okay?"

"Yeah," I told him—another lie.

By the end of the day I decided that I absolutely needed to talk to Bella. I knew I was losing Jet, but that didn't mean I had to lose Bella too. I caught up with her in the parking lot after my last class.

"Bella!" I called, "Wait up!"

She stopped but didn't turn around. She didn't say anything when I walked up to her.

"Look," I said, "I'm sorry about earlier—"

Bella cut me off. "You're sorry? Sorry for what?" The anger in her voice was more apparent than a full moon on a clear night. "Do you even know what you're apologizing for?"

"Bella, I—" I started, but again she stopped me.

"Don't. Just don't. What could you possibly say that would make this better?" she demanded, her voice rising, "You do realize you're breaking Jet's heart, don't you? I know you—you love him more than anyone. How could you do that to him? How could you do it to me? You know I like Brad! And yet you still ran off with him on some date Friday!"

People were staring at us now. I didn't know what to say. I hadn't expected Bella to react like this—but, then again, I had forgotten about Bella's feelings for Brad.

"Bella," I said, desperately trying to sooth her, "it wasn't a date, I swear. We just hung out."

"Yeah, and you just happened to accidentally ditch Jet for Brad?"

"It's not like that."

"Really? Tell me then, how is it?" she said, her stiff posture reflecting the tone of her voice.

I was at loss for words. I couldn't tell her about Brad. "I—I can't," I said, surrendering.

"Fine. Bye, Marina," Bella said and walked away, leaving me standing there alone.

Not only had I lost my boyfriend, but now I had lost my best friend too. I hadn't been exaggerating before—today _was_ the worst day of my life.


	20. Coveted

**THANK YOU for all the wonderful reviews! Here's the next chapter….get ready to freak a bit ;)**

The next day wasn't much better. Neither Jet nor Bella talked to me all day—not that I expected them too. But, to make things worse, news had spread of my argument with Bella and now the rest of my friends appeared to be avoiding me as well. While Brad was to blame for my disconnection with Jet, I couldn't blame him completely for what had happened between Bella and I—it wasn't his fault my best friend had a crush on him. At least where Bella was concerned, I was to blame for our falling out. If I had told her about the hunters and how I knew Brad was one of them, things would have been different—I could have still had her on my side.

In an odd turn of events, Brad became my only ally. My pain was clear to him—not that I tried to hide it—and he even seemed to express some guilt over it. When Grace blatantly walked away from me during gym, it had been Brad who'd comforted me—telling me Grace was a fool for abandoning me solely on the word of another. And while more and more, I appreciated Brad's continued support of me, it wasn't enough to chase away all the whispers behind my back or the taunts or the echoes of "slut" that followed me everywhere I went. I didn't think I had ever been more thankful to hear the ringing of the final bell. I wanted nothing more than to go home, lie down in front of the T.V. and forget about all my problems.

I was so close to that escape. I even had my fingers on my Jeep's door handle when I heard the shout from across the parking lot. I turned around to see Jet stalking towards Brad. I too started walking towards Brad. This couldn't be good.

"Who do you think you are?" Jet called, causing Brad to turn around.

The expression on Brad's face could only be described mild amusement.

"Marina is _my_ girlfriend."

"You sure about that? Could've fooled me."

"You better back off. She doesn't need an ass like you in her life," Jet spat.

By now a crowd had formed around the two boys. I had to push my through a couple people to get to the inner edge and see.

"Maybe she wants me." Brad smiled slyly and shrugged his shoulders.

"No." Jet's hands formed fists at his sides.

"How do you know?"

"Because I know her better than anyone."

"Really?" Brad asked, but his question was anything but innocent. The sly smile melted off his face like an ice pop in the hot sun, "Then tell me why she seems to want nothing to do with you anymore. Or why she avoids you in the halls between classes? I mean, come on _dawg_, when was the last time the two of you talked?"

I quickly recognized Brad's pun on the word "dawg", and I knew exactly what he was doing—warning me not to get involved. I glanced nervously at Jet—his whole body was shaking with fury.

"Trust me, you don't know her as well as you think you do. You're history to her. She's just too nice to admit it to your face. She wants _me_ now."

Jet flinched at Brad's words. "I'm warning you," Jet growled, pointing a finger at Brad, "Stay away from her. You have no idea who you're dealing with."

Brad laughed. He straight up laughed in Jet's face. Getting a hold of himself, Brad met Jet at eye level—blue staring down green and green staring down blue—and said, "If I were you, I'd be more worried about who _you're_ dealing with."

Jet narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything.

"Marina wants to be with me now," Brad said and smiled, "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she was in _love_ with me."

_Bam!_ The sound of bone on bone echoed across the parking lot as Jet's fist collided with Brad's cheekbone. I called out but whose name left my lips I didn't know. All I knew was that Brad quickly recovered and launched himself at Jet. Jet's back slammed against the asphalt and Brad landed on top of him. Brad's fists flew to Jet's face—punching him once, twice, three times.

"Brad!" I shouted, stepping into the circle, "Stop it!"

Brad's head whipped around to look at me. That small distraction was all it took for Jet to grab Brad by the front of his shirt, throw him onto his back, and have his turn using the other guy as a punching bag.

"Leave him alone!" I yelled, tears filling my eyes as I ran forward, "Jet!"

Both boys continued to fight—Jet's fist making contact with Brad's face—and, despite being held down, Brad able to get a few punches of his own in.

"Jet!" I screamed again, this time desperately grabbing hold of his shoulders, "Stop!"

Stilling holding Brad's shirt, Jet looked up at me—the pure fury in his eyes plunged a dagger in my heart. He turned back to Brad and threw him down against the pavement before standing up and wiping the oozing blood from the corner of his mouth. Brad stood up, brushing the rocks off his shirt and rubbing away the drops of blood coming from his nose.

The two boys glared at each other but neither made a move towards the other. They then moved their gaze to me. Glancing between the two, I lost it and the tears began freely flowing. With hurt, anger, frustration, embarrassment, and who knows what else on the edge of bursting from me in the form of choking sobs, I turned and ran.

I'm not sure how long I sat in my driveway sobbing uncontrollably before I got the back chilling feeling that I was being watched. Wiping my eyes, I lifted my head up and looked around. My still aching and no doubt very puffy eyes zeroed in on a black cat sitting at the edge of the trees in my backyard, watching me.

I got out of my Jeep and walked over to the cat. "John's not here," I told Valerie.

The cat shook its head and then nodded it in the direction of the woods. She turned around and began walking further into the trees, no doubt wanting me to follow. I did—not bothering to shift—simply stepping over fallen branches. We hadn't gone far when Valerie stopped and shifted back into her human form.

"What do you want?" I asked her.

"I need your help," she said, "I want you and John to help me find out what happened to my sister."

"John and I aren't—"

"Please," she begged, "I need to know."

I sighed. "John and I already went to the agency that handled his adoption, but we didn't really find anything. The woman there said a German Sheppard left John on the doorstep and then disappeared. How are we supposed to find a dog that dropped off the face of the earth sixteen years ago?"

"There has to be someone who saw her or knows something," Valerie said, "Please promise me you two will look into it."

"Why can't you?"

"If anyone in the tribe found out I was looking for my deserter sister they'd either punish me or want to take over the search so they could punish her. Trust me, it's better if you and John do it."

I pursed my lips. "Okay, I'll try, but I can't promise I'll find anything."

Valerie smiled. "Thank you," she said and turned to leave.

"Wait!" I said in a sudden burst of inspiration.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know anything about a prophecy?" I asked her eagerly.

Valerie frowned. "What kind of prophecy?"

"One that involves a shapeshifter who can turn into more than one animal and a hunter."

Valerie's eyes widened. "Why do you want to know about the Porias Prophecy?"

"So you do know it?" I asked, nearly bursting with anticipation, "Can you tell me what it says?"

"There are hundreds of different interpretations of it," Valerie said. She shook her head, "and I've never read it, so I don't know what it says exactly."

My mood immediately deflated—so much for solving one of my problems.

"But I could get you a copy of it for you."

I looked back up at her. "Really? Could you?"

Valerie considered me. "Only if you do something for me."

"Anything, name it."

"I want you to help me and Kelsey run away from the clan."

"You want to leave the tribe?" I asked, slightly surprised. I mean, I knew my dad and Jet's mom ran away but after the way Rebekka had talked about it, I thought life in the tribe had changed since then.

"Yes," Valerie nodded, "And now may be our only chance. This is the first time I've been able to leave the boundaries of the tribe in years, and with only a few other shapeshifters around, it'll be easier to get away."

I looked at her. I knew what she was asking wouldn't be easy, especially if Geoff could send the rest of the clan on their trail, but I really needed to get my hands on that prophecy. "We have a deal," I said.

Valerie smiled at me. "Thanks," she said again.

I turned to leave but she stopped me. "Why do you want the prophecy anyway?"

I looked back at her. Could I trust her? She was Jet's aunt and she wanted to cut all ties with the tribe. I took a deep breath in. "I think I'm the shapeshifter it talks about."

"But you can't be," Valerie said immediately, "the shapeshifter in the prophecy can turn into more than…" her voice trailed off as her eyes widened in realization. "You can, can't you?" she whispered, "Turn into more than one animal, I mean."

Slowly, I nodded.

Valerie smiled softly at me. "I won't tell anyone," she said, "You're secret is safe with me."

"Thank you."

"So it's true then," a voice to my right said, "You are a double shapeshifter." Geoff emerged from the shadows, smiling at me.

Crap.


	21. Lost

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed and to **_CelticH2O___**for always writing reviews that make me smile! Okay, so here's the next chapter. It's a bit of a long one but there's a lot of important information. Enjoy!**

I wanted to run. Would Geoff catch me? Probably not. I couldn't imagine a big black panther being able to outrun wolf, especially a panther Geoff's age. I've been able to outrun my dad since I was twelve—Geoff should be no problem.

But then what? Even if I managed to escape Geoff he knew exactly where to find me. The only way I would truly escape him was if my family packed up and left town, which wasn't going to happen. I had to confront him.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him, hoping he hadn't overheard as much as he thought he did. The fact that I could turn into a wolf and a dolphin was the most important secret in my life—even more important than the fact that I was a shapeshifter. My dad had made it very clear. Tell no one of my second shapeshifter identity. Of course I had broken this rule before—first with Jet, then with Bella and Tommy—but those were exceptions. I had never revealed my secret to anyone who I didn't completely trust—until now—because I _definitely_ didn't trust Geoff.

"What's your other animal?" Geoff demanded, acting as if I hadn't spoken.

I didn't answer. Valerie seemed to be shaking in terror beside me. Not that I blamed her—how much had Geoff overheard? Did he know about Valerie's desire to leave the tribe?

"Well? What is it?" Geoff asked again, "Show me!"

"She can't," a female voice said from behind him. Rebekka stepped out from behind a tree. I shot daggers at her with my eyes—she promised my dad she wouldn't tell anyone what she had discovered about me.

"What do you mean?" Geoff asked, turning to his wife, "I saw her admit to Valerie that she was a double shapeshifter."

Rebekka glanced over to me. I begged her not to tell—mouthing "please" to her.

"She is a double shapeshifter," Rebekka said, "but she can't show you here."

"Double shapeshifter?" another voice came from the trees—Henry came closer, Tanner on his heels. Brett, Bryn and Stephen appeared behind them.

This wasn't good. I know I've said that before but this time I really meant it. There I was—revealed as a double shapeshifter to a bunch of shapeshifters I didn't know with absolutely no allies.

"Marina is a double shapeshifter," Rebekka explained to her son, then turned back to Geoff, "She can turn into a wolf and a dolphin."

"But that's not possible," Stephen said, jumping in. I had never heard him speak before, and his voice sent chills down my spine. There was something about him that made me uneasy.

"Yeah," Bryn said, stepping forward, "There's no such thing anymore. The only mention of it is in the Porias Prophecy…" Her voice trailed off, and I felt the weight of sixteen pairs of eyes on me.

"Are we sure she isn't lying?" Stephen asked, breaking the silence.

_Yes!_ I thought, _think I'm lying, please think I'm lying_!

"I saw her turn into both," Rebekka said.

"You promised," I said, speaking up.

"Excuse me?" Rebekka asked, frowning at me.

"You promised my father that you wouldn't tell anyone about what you saw," I said, still glaring at her.

"Well, I'm afraid this is much bigger now than a simple promise," she said, "Or have you forgotten that we have hunters on our tails?"

"Yes, everything is falling into place," Geoff said, staring me down, "_One of many forms_ and _a brother descendent_."

Brother descendent? What on earth was he talking about? Was he quoting part of the prophecy? He couldn't mean the hunter that Tommy mentioned, could he? Since when were shapeshifters and hunters brothers?

"You are destined to save our kind, Marina," Geoff said.

Save? _Save?_ Woah, hold up. I thought I was just supposed to change lives. When I was presented that idea I realized I may have already completed the prophecy. I mean, I was a double shapeshifter—I already wasn't supposed to exist. Maybe that was how I was supposed to change lives—reignite the multiple animal gene or whatever it was. I had actually been hoping that was what it was. But save lives? At this point I was barely hanging onto my own life, what with the constant risk of Brad discovering that I was a shapeshifter too.

"I—what? I don't think so," I stuttered. I shook my head firmly. "Nuh-uh. You can find yourself another double shapeshifter to save you."

Geoff narrowed his eyes at me. "There is no other and you know that. You are the one."

I didn't say anything.

Keeping his eyes on me, Geoff called, "Henry! Stephen!" The two appeared at Geoff's side almost instantly. "Go back to the tribe," he ordered them, "Tell the chief we've found the double shapeshifter of the prophecy." Both Henry and Stephen nodded then shifted into their other forms—Stephen slithering up onto Henry's back—and then disappeared into the forest.

"The chief?" I whispered. Crap. Crap. Crap. I was so screwed.

Geoff smiled at me. "I'm sure he will be very pleased to meet you," he said.

I glanced between Geoff and the place where Henry and Stephen had disappeared. I could catch them. I could stop them so this chief wouldn't even know I existed. I looked back at Geoff—that plan wasn't going to work. There were too many of them and only one of me. I could run—like actually run—run and never stop. I wouldn't tell anyone—I would simply disappear, just as Jet's mother did.

As if he read my mind, Geoff said, "And don't even think about going anywhere, Marina," his warning echoing in the silent forest, "because we'll be keeping a close eye on you."

I had a feeling the clan was going to be the worst big brother ever.

"Valerie," Geoff said, turning to her.

"Yes?" her voice came out as a squeak.

"You and Brett will escort Marina back home," Geoff commanded, "and then you will return to us. Brett will stay there to watch out for Marina."

"Of course," Valerie mumbled. Brett shifted back into his gigantic bear form and walked forward. Valerie and I followed in our human forms. Once we were out of the range for the rest of the clan to hear us, Valerie leaned over to me. "I'm sorry," she said, "that they discovered your secret."

"It's not your fault," I said, "Rebekka was the one who betrayed my dad's trust."

"A wolf and a dolphin, huh?" Valerie said.

I nodded, noticing that Valerie had slowed her pace a bit—Brett was getting farther and farther ahead of us.

"That's cool," she said then glanced at Brett, "I don't think they know."

"Kn—?" I started but Valerie quickly interrupted me.

"About Kelsey and I escaping," she said under her breath, and then her eyes met mine, "Do we still have a deal?"

I thought about it. Despite the whole clan knowing my secret, nobody seemed in any hurry to let me see the prophecy. And I definitely still wanted to get my hands on it. Besides, even if I was about to be sucked into the life my dad and Jet's mom so desperately tried to escape, I could at least do some good by helping someone else escape it.

"Yes," I told her.

Ahead of us, Brett shifted back into human form. "Keep up," he said, "We need to get you home before it the sun goes down." When he turned back around, Valerie mouthed "thank you" to me before we picked up our pace.

When I got home I headed straight up to my room. I was going to keep my promise to Valerie—not only was I going to free her and Kelsey but I was also going to find out all I could about what happened to Jet's mom. I opened the search engine on my computer and typed in "Deirdre" before I realized I didn't even know what her or Valerie's last name was—if they even had one. I thought for a minute. I knew that Jet had been left at the adoption agency in the next town over which meant that there was a possibility Deirdre had lived, or at least, stayed in the area for a time. I wondered how Jet's adoptive parents found him when they lived in Colorado. It was kind of ironic that they adopted a son from one town and then moved to the town next door twelve years later.

I shook my head. Now was not the time to ponder the inner workings of adoption in America. In the search bar I typed "Deirdre + Santa Barbara County" but all the internet could give me was a list of professionals in the area and some woman who worked in the county clerk's office. I sighed. I should have known a general search wasn't going to give me what I was looking for.

Just then, Cole appeared in my door.

"What are you doing home?" I asked, glancing at the clock, "Don't you have a class at 6:30?"

He shrugged. "Skipping it," he said.

I scoffed at him—Cole was a computer science major but he took college about as seriously as he did high school—which was as one big joke. He walked over to my window, looking down at the backyard. I turned back to my search. What I really needed was access to the county records.

"Any idea why there is a bear patrolling the perimeter?" Cole asked staring at the treeline.

"It's that Brett guy," I said, not really paying attention to Cole. How could I possibly get access to county records from seventeen years ago though? I didn't even know what I would look for. I couldn't very well go into the municipal center and ask for all the information they had on women named Deirdre.

"Thanks genius," Cole said, turning to me, "I meant, why is he here watching our house?"

I shrunk down a bit—I hadn't told anyone in my family about the clan knowing my double shapeshifter identity yet. Cole didn't know about the prophecy and my dad still didn't know that I knew about but if Cole told Dad that the other shapeshifters knew my secret, my dad would completely freak. He would want to pack up and move, but with only four of us and seven of them, there wasn't a good chance we wouldn't make it out without being followed. Besides, I couldn't leave Jet alone here with Brad.

I slowly swiveled my chair around to face Brad. "You can't tell Dad," I said.

Cole narrowed his eyes. "I can't tell Dad what?"

I looked down at the floor.

"Marina," Cole said, lowering his voice, "what's going on?"

"They know," I said quickly, "The clan. They know that I can turn into a wolf and a dolphin."

Cole frowned. "Okay, that's not necessarily a good thing, but I can't understand why you don't want Dad to know. Or why the clan knowing constitutes having a guard posted at the edge of our property."

I bit my lip. I hadn't told anyone but Tommy about the prophecy. Should I tell Cole? "You got me," I said, shrugging my shoulders, "Maybe they want to worship me."

Cole scoffed at me—his questions forgotten. He walked back over to my open door.

"Hey, wait," I said stopping him, "Could you do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Could you hack the county records for me?" I asked, trying my best to look as innocent as possible.

"Why do you want to do that?" he asked.

"I'm looking for information on Jet's real mom," I said, answering truthfully for once.

Cole sighed. "Move over," he said leaning over my computer. He began typing away and bringing up all sorts of windows. After a minute, he moved back. "There," he said, "Put whatever you want to search for in that bar."

"Thanks," I said and smiled at him.

"Don't get used to it," he said and left.

I stared at the screen. What should I search? I didn't think searching the name Deirdre would be any more help than Google had been. I needed to think of something else. I knew from the woman at the adoption agency that Deirdre was a German Sheppard. I clicked the cursor on the search bar and typed "lost dog, German Sheppard". I got ten hits—two from around the time Jet was left on the orphanage's doorstep. Taking the provided addresses I cross-searched them with the police records.

Only one thing came up.

It was a report detailing how a man named Nathan Richter had violated a restraining order. I scrolled through the document looking for the connection. Then I found it. The woman who had filed the restraining order lived at the same address provided for the lost dog. The woman's name was listed as Deanna Sheppard. D. Sheppard—it had to be Deirdre's alias. I smiled. I had found her. I took a sticky note from my desk and wrote Deirdre's address on it. Staring at the address, I realized I knew exactly where it was, and it wasn't far from here—ten minutes at most. But if Jet's real mom lived so close why didn't we find her sooner?

I looked back through the information I found. Scanning the information on the lost dog, I noticed a comment at the bottom of the page. It read: "never found, presumed dead". My heart sank. Even if Deirdre had lived at that address before, she certainly wasn't there now. But, someone had to have known her. Who was this Nathan Richter? She seemed to know him enough, or at least fear him enough to get a restraining order on him. Had he done something to her? I couldn't imagine this random guy winning in a fight against a woman who could turn into a German Sheppard—those dogs were big.

I printed out the information on both Nathan and the lost dog. There had been someone who cared enough about her to file a lost dog report—someone who knew that she was a shapeshifter. And that person was probably the key to finding Jet's mother.


	22. Ancient Archenemy

**THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS, especially to those who hadn't reviewed before. It's great to hear from new people! :) So this chapter ended up being a lot longer than I expected—so much so that I had to cut some stuff and save it for the next one. Anyway, I hope you like it!**

I wanted to tell Jet what I had discovered about his mother, but I didn't have enough courage to talk to him. Hell, I didn't have enough courage to be in the same room as him anymore. For the first time since school started, I was actually happy that I didn't have every class with Jet and had four with Brad. I barely made it through the next two days. I hated to admit it, but it was Brad who kept me going. He was always there with that cocky smile on his face whenever I needed a pick-me-up. I shuddered at the thought of what would happen if he ever found out that I was a shapeshifter too. He definitely wouldn't smile at me—of that much I was certain.

But he didn't know. And, for now at least, everything between us was just fine.

I almost had a heart attack during lunch on Friday.

After grabbing a slice of pizza from the cafeteria, I sat down on the floor outside the dining hall—where Brad and I had taken to sitting, since we were no longer welcome at the table with our friends—as Brad sat down beside me. I started talking to him about gym class, which we had next. We had long since moved passed archery by now and were nearing the end of our tennis unit. Volleyball was supposed to be next—and I was beast at volleyball. I was definitely looking forward to the sport. Brad admitted to me that he had never played volleyball before.

"Really?" I asked, surprised.

"I actually know how to play many sports," he said.

"But you know tennis," I pointed out. He was almost as good at tennis as he had been at archery—although I knew why he was so good at archery.

"That's only because I had to learn for an assignment," he said, looking up at me expectantly. I knew exactly what he meant by assignment—a hunting trip.

"Oh," I said softly and glanced down at my pizza, "You never went through these units in gym before?"

"Not really," he said, "my family tends to move around a lot because of hunting. We follow the animal wherever it goes or we find a new one to hunt. I can't remember the last time we were in one town for this long."

I didn't say anything. I couldn't help but wonder how many shapeshifters had died because of Brad and his family. I didn't dare ask Brad how many times he's moved.

"Are you doing anything tonight?" Brad asked suddenly.

"Hmm?" I asked, returning to Earth, "Oh, uh, I don't think so."

"Good," Brad smiled, "You are officially invited over to my house for dinner."

I nearly choked on the bit of pizza in my mouth. "Tonight?" I coughed.

"Yeah," Brad said, "You okay?"

I nodded, massaging my throat. "Your house?" I asked even though I knew what the answer would be.

"Yeah, you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," I said pushing him away, "just went down the wrong pipe."

"So is that a yes?" Brad asked, looking at me eagerly.

I stared at him. Go to his house for dinner? With his family? With his family _of hunters_? A shapeshifter in a house full of shapeshifter hunters—it certainly fit the craziness that my life was at the moment.

I sighed. "Yeah, it's a yes," I said, caving. I was suicidal—I had to be—it was the only way to explain my complete disregard for personal preservation.

"Great, I'll pick you up at six."

Six came _way_ too quickly. At five-thirty I put on a sundress and sandals—figuring I should at least look nice at my own funeral—only to have Skye ask me if I was going on a date. I didn't respond. It wasn't a date. I was just going to friend's house for dinner. Sure that friend was a guy. And sure I was sort of dressing up. And sure I was meeting his parents for the first time. But that didn't mean it was a date, because it wasn't.

Brad's Charger pulled into my driveway a little after six, when which I practically ran out of my house to avoid any more questions.

"You look beautiful," Brad said as I climbed in the passenger seat, his eyes traveling down the length of my entire body. His gaze made me both queasy and giddy at the same time.

"Looks like you cleaned up too," I said gesturing to his blue polo shirt and pleaded khaki pants.

"This? Oh this is just a normal Friday-night-dinner outfit," he laughed.

"That is normal?" I asked disbelievingly, "Maybe I should have worn the chiffon dress."

Brad smiled at me. "Don't worry," he said, "You are going to be the star of the party."

That was what I was afraid of.

Brad's house was on the coast like Bella's—but it wasn't a house—it was a mansion. I'm not kidding. The place was huge. For some reason I didn't think hunting would really pay well, but simply judging by the outside of the mansion, I had been severely wrong.

Brad must have noticed the look of astonishment on my face when we pulled up the _gated_ driveway. "The place has been in the family for decades," he said as he opened the door for me (like a complete gentleman) and held out a hand to help me out of the car. I let him lead me to the front door which he opened and gestured for me to go in first.

I was in awe. The foyer was absolutely gorgeous. That was the only word that came to mind—literally, I thought nothing else.

"Come on," Brad said, taking my hand, "this way." He led me down a hallway towards the back of the house and through a swinging door. I immediately recognized the room as the kitchen, and it was full of people. Well, not full—there were four people in the kitchen, but I could see at least seven more on a patio out back. There was no way all these people could be Brad's family.

"Ah, there you are Brad," a woman with slightly graying blonde hair said, walking up to us. Smiling to me, she said, "And you must be Marina."

"This is my mom," Brad said.

"Please, call me Helen," Brad's mom said, still smiling at me. Would she be smiling if she knew what I was? No—I couldn't think about that. This woman wasn't a killer right now, she was just a regular person—my friend's mother.

Putting a smile on my face that matched the warmth of Brad's mom's, I said, "It's nice to meet you."

"You too, dear," she said. She turned back to the granite countertop behind her, "Would you two mind helping me with these cookies? We only have a few minutes until dinner will be ready but we won't have any dessert if I don't get these pies and cookies in the oven before that."

"Sure," I said, glad to have something to do. Brad's mom showed me how to roll the dough and how big to make the pieces.

Beside me, Brad picked up a piece of cookie dough. Gesturing to the other three people in the kitchen, he said, "This is my Aunt Lynn, my Uncle Theo, and our family friend Rachel." Each of them smiled and nodded to me in greeting, and I did the same.

I rolled cookie after cookie, my hands getting sticky with the dough as Brad did the same. I couldn't help but glance nervously at the several people talking and laughing out on the patio, wondering just how many, if not all, were hunters.

About ten minutes later, Brad's mom announced opened the back door and announced that dinner was ready. Everyone who had been outside filed in and took their places at the long dining room table—it seemed like they had done this many times before.

A tall man with thinning brown hair and very broad shoulders walked up to me and Brad. I wasn't sure exactly what it was about this man, but something about him had my mind screaming hunter.

"Marina, this is my dad," Brad said.

"Marina," his dad said, offering me his hand, "Pleased to meet you."

"It nice to meet you too," I said, taking his hand. I hoped he didn't notice how my hand trembled beneath his grip.

After that, Brad led me to a seat at the table and he took the one next to me. Remembering how Brad had once told me that he parents fought a lot, I looked for both of them—they were at opposite ends of the table—but seemed perfectly happy with one another. I wondered if they only fought over hunting issues.

The food was amazing—I even had seconds. I met another uncle and aunt of Brad's, along with four younger cousins and five other family friends. I would have had a nice time had I not been so worried that someone would pull a gun on me at any minute, but no one ever did.

"So, Nate," Sam, one of the family friends, addressed Brad's dad once everyone had finished eating, "We goin' out tomorrow?"

"Yup," was all Brad's dad said.

"Any idea where we're headed?"

"Come on," Brad whispered in my ear as he pushed out his chair, "Let's go."

We excused ourselves from the table as Brad led me out of

the room and up the stairs.

"We survived," Brad said once we reached the top of the stairs.

I laughed—he had no idea how true that was. "It's a miracle," I said, actually relieved to get out of the crowded room.

"I want to show you something," Brad said, taking my hand again. He pulled me down the hall to the right of the staircase. He opened a door on the left and walked in. The room was a lot larger than I expected it to be. There was even a small chandelier hanging from the ceiling and a giant fireplace on one wall. Brad rushed forward to a pair of French doors on the other side of the room but I was frozen in the center.

"Over here," Brad called to me.

"What is this?" I asked, gesturing to a tapestry that almost covered the entire wall opposite the fireplace.

Walking up to me, Brad said, "It's our history." His eyes traveled the width of the tapestry and mine followed his.

There were many people and animals on the tapestry. There was a couple holding a baby, a bear, a village, the couple weeping, people with human bodies but animal heads, a pack of wolves, and people with spears fighting the people with animal heads. It told the story of the first hunters. And some of the scenes looked oddly familiar.

"It all started with a young couple," Brad said, his voice growing solemn. I glanced up at him.

"They had a child, but their village was attacked by a bear and their son was taken from them. They prayed to God to give them a way to save their son, but it wasn't God who answered their prayers. It was the devil. He gave them the power to turn into an animal but at a horrible price. He took away their humanity. With their new powers they found and rescued their son. The couple had another child, and that child had the same powers that the parents had received from the devil. Years passed and the village was attacked again, this time by a pack of wolves. Only, because they had lived so long without their humanity, when the parents and sister turned into their animal forms to fight against the wolves they ended up attacking the people of their own village. The brother was forced to kill both his parents. When it was all over and his sister changed back to her human form she tried to make up excuses for why she attacked her own people, but the brother didn't believe her. From that moment on, he vowed that he would hunt down his sister and any others like her. He trained his children to hunt them and they trained their children and so on.

"That's how the first hunters came to be," Brad finished.

"Do you know the brother's name?" I asked so quietly I wasn't sure Brad had heard me.

"Roe," Brad answered, "Why do you ask?"

I couldn't believe it—the origin of shapeshifters and the origin of shapeshifter hunters was the same story—and yet, it made perfect sense. I was a descendent of Luka and Brad was a descendent of Roe. I stared up at Brad. _He was my brother descendent_.

I looked back at the tapestry. "No reason."

**Also, note to **_CelticH2O_**: Honestly, I tend to write in class. I probably would be a lot slower with updates if I didn't take the opportunity to write whenever there is a lull in my lectures. The notebooks of my margins are filled with Marina's story instead of doodles (haha). If you can't do that, I would suggest having at least a general idea of what you want your next chapter (or chapters) to be about so you can get excited to write them. That's why I got this chapter out so fast—I just couldn't wait to share this scene with you guys. Hope that helps! **


	23. The Worst Fight

**Thank you for all the reviews! And a special thanks to** _liveonpurpose _**for writing a review after every chapter she missed: you're the best! Now, a lot happens in this chapter (honestly, I was on an emotional roller coaster while writing it) and I'd really like to know what you think, so please review! :)**

"Close your eyes," Brad said as he gently placed his hands over my eyes.

I smiled. "You do realize that if you tell someone to close their eyes you don't have to cover them."

"Of course I do," Brad said playfully, "I just don't trust you."

"Oh thanks," I huffed.

"Just walk."

Brad led me across the rest of the room, most likely to the French doors.

"Now don't peak," he said as he lifted his hands from my eyes.

"Not peaking," I responded, my voice rising an octave. I heard the distinctive click of doors being unlocked, and felt a warm fall breeze dive inside as Brad opened the doors. "Can I look now?"

"Not yet," Brad said as he led me out onto what I assumed was a balcony.

"Now?"

"Okay, now," Brad said. He was smiling at me when I opened my eyes. He stepped to the side and my vision was filled with the most beautiful view I had ever seen. Brad's house was positioned right on a cliff with the ocean crashing on the cliffs below, and—I know it sounds cliché—but I could literally see for miles. The ocean really was endless. Even where ocean met sky seemed to blend and just become one magnificent slate of ranging blues.

I walked forward to the edge of the balcony and Brad followed me—it was a long way down—but I wasn't scared. My senses were already overcome by the beauty of the small piece of nature before me. As a shapeshifter, I got to glimpse so many of Earth's spectacles that others don't. This was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen and I was happy to be sharing it with someone, but it still didn't compare to some of the things and places I had seen while I was a dolphin or wolf. I wished that I could share those sights with a normal human like Brad.

"Why do you hate people who can turn into animals so much?" I asked, looking up to him.

He eyes met mine for a second before he gazed back out at the ocean before us. He didn't answer me for awhile—so long that I didn't think he would. "It has to do with my brother," he finally said.

"Your brother?" I asked, "He wasn't at dinner. Was—?"

"He's dead."

I looked away. "Oh," I whispered, "I'm sorry."

Brad sighed. "It was a long time ago."

"Can…can I ask what happened?"

"I was nine," Brad started, "Vincent was twelve.

"For kids raised in hunting families, you get to go on your first hunt when you are twelve, but I was so eager, I just couldn't wait. I was angry that he got to go and I didn't." Brad hung his head. "Vincent, on the other hand, didn't seem too excited. I begged him to take me with him, and he finally agreed. Vincent snuck me into the truck before the hunt. And, once all the adults had walked off, he let me out. For awhile we were fine. We just snuck through the woods on this mountain together with our guns held out in front of us."

Brad smiled sadly and shook his head. "The crazy thing was that I actually thought, that together, we'd be invincible—two kids who'd never been hunting. We weren't. We came across a baby fox, and I knew it was one of them."

"Was it?" I asked.

He nodded. "That was when I first discovered the changing light that surrounded the creatures. I described to Vincent but he said he couldn't see anything. He didn't believe me."

Brad looked over at me. "You don't believe me," he said, "but it's there, I swear. Every person who can change into an animal has this rainbow light that surrounds their body, and, if I concentrate, I can see it. It took a couple hunting trips to convince my family."

I didn't say anything, but I believed him. It was how he had discovered Jet. And, if he concentrated on me, just as I learned to do from Tommy last spring, he would see that I had a rainbow light dancing around me just like all the other shapeshifters he'd met.

"Anyway, Vincent thought the fox was just a fox…until a giant snow leopard jumped between us and the baby fox. That was when I realized I shouldn't be there. All of the training I'd had just escaped my head as I stared at the hissing leopard. I was terrified. I dropped my gun and ran. I thought that Vincent was right behind me, but when I looked back I saw that he hadn't followed me. He was still in front of the leopard. He yelled at me to keep running, and then he took a shot at the leopard. He missed. The leopard jumped at him and he managed to dodge it, but he was too close to the edge of the cliff. He couldn't stop his motion, and he rolled right off the edge."

Brad closed his eyes. I gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's not your fault," I said.

Brad opened his eyes and stared into mine. "I want to blame the leopard—the monster—like the rest of my family. But, a part of me knows it was more _my_ fault than the snow leopard's. I begged him to take me with him. If I hadn't gone, he wouldn't have been distracted. Hell, he probably wouldn't have asked my dad to go off alone."

"You can't blame yourself," I said, "It was an accident. Sometimes things just happen."

Brad looked back out at the ocean. "Have you ever had this feeling that maybe you were wrong about something you were so sure of before?" He didn't wait for me to answer. "It's weird. I've had this memory of the leopard lunging toward Vincent _after_ he rolled out of reach and towards the cliff—almost as if it was reaching for him—trying to stop him for going over. But why would a monster try to _save_ my brother? For the longest time I thought it was just something I imagined, but now, I'm not so sure."

"What do you mean?" I asked, staring at him—I mean, _really_ staring at him. Was he saying what I think he was saying?

"I haven't told anyone this, but, a week ago, I almost drowned."

My head snapped forward and froze. My eyes shifted back and forth between him and the water. "Really?" I squeaked—oh great, Marina, that wasn't suspicious at all.

"I was on a tiny sailboat when that storm hit, and I got thrown overboard. I couldn't see which way the shore was—all I could see were these huge waves. I honestly thought I was going to die out there. When I went under, I didn't think I was coming back up. But then, out of nowhere, this dolphin appears and it pushes me to the surface. And then it let me hold onto its fin as it pulled me safely to shore."

I didn't say anything. What was I supposed to say? That the dolphin was me?

"I think that dolphin was one of them," Brad said.

"What?" I blurted. Crap. Crap. Crap. He was finally going to put it together. He was going to stare at me and finally see my aura. He was going to know what I was. "Did you—did you, you know, you for that light thing you were talking about?"

"No, but think about it, Marina," Brad exclaimed, "Saving drowning victims is not normal behavior for a dolphin—especially one that's alone. It was one of them, I'm sure of it." He paused for a minute. "What I can't understand is why it would save me. If it really is a monster with no humanity then wouldn't it let me drown? Wouldn't the leopard have simply let Vincent fall off the cliff? I mean, maybe they're not the monsters I thought they were."

I turned to him, a slight smile on my face. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. "I'm starting to realize that not all things are black and white too," I said.

I stared into his blue eyes—they didn't seem so icy anymore—in fact, they seemed to be able to melt my insides with one look. Brad leaned in closer as I unconsciously did the same—his gaze literally holding me in place. I didn't even notice how close we were until our noses touched. I held my breath as he tilted his head a bit and leaned in until his lips met mine. He gently pressed a lingering kiss to my lips and the breath I had been holding escaped through my nose. If his eyes could melt my insides then his kiss could evaporate them. But after only a moment, he pulled away, leaving my mouth tingling from his touch.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I don't want to push you."

"It's okay," were the words out of my mouth. I bit down on my bottom lip. What was I saying? Of course it wasn't okay! I loved Jet! Even though I was supposed to be avoiding him, I couldn't go around letting other guys kiss me, especially like _that_. Because…because Brad was a _damn _good kisser.

"It's late," Brad said, glancing at the watch on his wrist, "I should probably take you home."

I nodded and looked away, feeling my cheeks heat up in embarrassment. What was wrong with me?

He led me back downstairs and I thanked his parents for dinner. On our way out I swiped the familiar jet-ski key that was sitting in a bowl on a table by the front door—I would return it later—but for now, I needed it for my plan.

It was dark by the time Brad dropped me off at home. Standing in the beams of his headlights, I waved "goodbye" as he backed down the driveway. Once he was gone, I turned and walked around to the back porch. Tonight had been…_fun_. It was such a change from the usual doom-and-gloom I had been experiencing lately that how comforting it was to be in a good mood for once.

"Where were you?" The voice cut through the dark and burst my happy bubble like a pin to a balloon.

"Jet?" I asked, "What are you doing here?"

He ignored my question. He stood up from where he was sitting on my porch. "You were with him, weren't you?"

It was my turn to ignore his question. "How's Bella?"

"Hurt," he said, "So am I." He looked up at me curiously. "But for some reason, I think you already know that."

I didn't say anything. I had feared this conversation all week.

"Bella told me how you saved him," Jet said, "Is that what this is all about? Because I honestly don't understand what's going on with you."

I shook my head. "I didn't want to save him," I admitted.

"Then why did you?"

"Because of Bella," I said, trying desperately to get him to understand without having him put everything together, "She was going to save him but if she did she would be revealing herself as a mermaid, and I couldn't let her do that. Brad can't know about Bella."

"And why's that?" Jet asked, "Sure, the guy's a jerk, Marina, but Bella's secret is just that—_her secret_—it's her choice who she tells and who she doesn't."

I shook my head again. "No," I said, "Brad can't know. You don't understand."

Jet frowned. "So help me to," he said, stepping closer.

"I can't," I said, biting my lip.

"Fine," Jet exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air, "Then do you mind telling me why you're dating this jackass? Especially since, last time I checked, you and I were together!"

Again, I didn't say anything.

"No? Then how about why you seem to spend every waking-minute with the guy? I thought you hated him! It's like I don't even know you anymore! What happened to you?"

"Na-nothing," I stuttered, looking down at my feet. I could feel Jet's eyes on me.

"You're lying," he said.

I looked up and found myself face to face with him. His green eyes bore into mine. My heart leaped towards him but I kept my feet firmly on the ground.

The fierceness in his eyes disappeared. "Tell me."

I couldn't do it—I turned away. "I can't," I said softly.

"Why not?" Jet asked, "Marina, you've always told me everything." His voice changed, as if his words were getting caught in his throat. "You've never kept anything from me before. Tell me what's going on."

I hugged my arms close to my chest. "I can't," I whispered again.

"Has he hurt you?" Jet demanded, taking my hands and scanning my arms and legs as if searching for bruises.

I tried to pull away but he caught me. "No, no," I said as firmly as I could. Not yet—although I was beginning to doubt Brad's actions if he found out what I was—would he really kill me? I wasn't so sure anymore.

"Then what is it?" Jet asked, "Marina, please. I still love you." He took one hand and stroked the side of my face with his fingers.

I squeezed my eyes shut and gasped for breath. I wanted to tell him everything. I wanted him to hold me and tell me everything would be okay. I wanted _him_ so badly. But, as my mom constantly told me when I was young, you can't always get what you want. And, unfortunately, this was one of those times.

I pulled away and turned my back to him. "No," I said, my lip quivering, "I—I—I _like_ Brad." I felt the tears escape my eyes and start to run down my cheeks.

Jet was silent behind me. He could always tell when I was lying and he knew I wasn't lying about that—I _did_ like Brad. I still wasn't sure how much, but I could no longer deny that I had feelings for him on at least some level.

I wiped my eyes and turned back to him. He was still surprised. His eyes searched my face for any tell-tale signs that I was lying—but I wasn't—and I could tell from the look on his face that he already knew that. He just didn't want to believe me.

"You should probably go," I whispered.

"Yeah," he mumbled, "goodnight."

I wanted him to yell at me—to scream in my face—because I knew I deserved it. I broke the heart of the only person I've ever loved and I wanted him to punish me for it. But he didn't. His lack of reaction was so much worse. He simply turned and walked across the yard to the edge of the woods. He paused for a second to look back at me before he took off running.

He was gone, and, this time, I wondered if it was for good.


	24. Evade and Escape

**Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who wrote a review! Hearing from my readers is always so encouraging. Anyway, here is the beginning of the end…dun, dun, dun. ;)**

Apparently, it wasn't for good. When I looked out my window the next morning, I found Jet leaning against a tree at the edge of my family's property line. I was not only surprised by the fact that he was there, but also by how early he was there. Today was the day I had agreed to help Valerie escape. It was just past five-thirty in the morning and the sun was just starting to peak out over the horizon.

I pulled on the dress I usually wear when I plan on shifting multiple times and grabbed a zip-up sweatshirt—both of which I had made sure to wash last night so there was as little of my scent on them as possible. I quietly slipped downstairs and out the back door, as to not wake the rest of my family.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I walked up to him—not out of anger but out of curiosity.

"I saw Valerie," he said, "She told me what happened with the clan and how this chief is coming for you. I just wanted to let you know that I'm still here for you. I won't let them force you into anything you don't want to do."

I gave him a soft smile. I knew Valerie hadn't told him she was leaving, which meant that he had most likely been out here all night making sure no one from the clan showed up. "Thanks," I said.

He threw me a half smile. An awkward silence followed it.

He pulled his phone from the pocket of his sweatshirt and frowned. "What are you doing up this early?" he asked.

Valerie had been clear—only I could know of the plan—even Jet couldn't know what she was planning on doing. It was the only way to keep the others out of harm's way in case the tribe found out Valerie had help.

"I couldn't go back to sleep," I lied, hoping he wouldn't realize I was telling him less than the truth, or, at least, choose to ignore it, "I'm going for a run."

He looked at me like he was debating whether or not he should say something. After a couple seconds, he said, "I can come with you."

I stared at him—he couldn't come. "That's okay," I said, "I'd rather just go alone."

Jet shook his head. "I'd feel better if I went with you."

"I can take care of myself, Jet," I said, my desperation growing. I had to meet Valerie and Kelsey before anyone in the clan realized they were gone.

"I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I know, but I'll be fine."

"Marina, there's a whole bunch of shapeshifters watching you and some big-name chief of this tribe coming to get you, for whatever reason," he said, stepping closer.

I immediately backed away. Why did this have to be so hard? _Because you love each other_, my mind answered my unasked question. "Jet," I said, gulping, "I don't want _you_ to come." I purposely put the emphasis on the fact that I didn't want _him_ there—it was the only way I could get him to stay behind.

He didn't say anything. I could tell that hit home and I couldn't take it.

"Look," I said, closing the distance between us again—but not too much—I didn't trust myself not to melt into his arms or plant a kiss on him then and there. I bit down on my bottom lip—a new habit I seemed to be picking up—I hadn't told him about my kiss with Brad. The number of things I was hiding from Jet were piling up. "If I'm not back in two hours you can come out with a search party, okay?" Two hours should give me plenty of time to get Valerie and Kelsey out of town.

He was quiet for a minute. "Do I have a choice?"

I smiled sadly at him. "No."

When he didn't say anything I turned and walked into the woods. I stuck my hand in the pocket of my dress, my fingers touching the grooves of the key to Brad's jet-ski and assuring myself that it was still there. Once I was out of sight, I removed my dress and shifted into my wolf form. Picking up my dress with my teeth, I ran through the trees as fast as I could. I couldn't let Valerie believe I abandoned her.

"I was afraid you weren't going to come," Valerie whispered when I emerged.

I shifted back, pulling the dress over my head. "I wouldn't do that to you, and besides, I need that prophecy."

"I will get it to you," Valerie said, "I promise." Next to Valerie, Kelsey yawned, her mother's hand in hers.

"Do you have the clothes I gave you the other day?" I asked.

Valerie gestured to the familiar backpack Kelsey was carrying—it was the same backpack I had used when I was in Kindergarten—complete with a smiling Elmo on the back.

"Good," I said, nodding, "I need you to put them on now and then give me the clothes you're wearing."

Valerie did as I instructed, helping Kelsey to change. Looking up at me from where she knelt, she said, "You know I can't thank you enough for doing this. I would have asked your father but they would have suspected him. And besides he's already in enough trouble with the tribe."

I nodded. The way she said the part about my dad made it sound like he was going to prison—I mean, I knew the shapeshifters from the tribe were mad at him for faking his own death, but what could they do about it? Nothing, now. I wanted to ask her what she meant, but we didn't have time. The sun was completely up by now.

Valerie handed me the clothes she and Kelsey were wearing and stood up.

"You better give me your bag for now too," I said, gesturing to the backpack Valerie was wearing. She handed that over too. "Now what you're going to do is walk in the stream in that direction," I pointed to my left, "It will lead out to the ocean. When you reach the end of the stream, you'll find yourself at the edge of a small cliff. I will be waiting for you at the bottom of it."

"So we'll have to jump?" Valerie asked.

"Yes," I said, then bending down to Kelsey's level, I asked, "Can you swim?"

Still clutching her mother, she nodded.

I smiled. Turning back to Valerie, I said, "Walk in the stream. Whatever you do, do not step out of the water. I'm hoping the water will mask your scent."

"Of course," Valerie said, turning towards the running water.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, almost forgetting, "And don't shift. We can't have any clumps of hair or fur getting left behind for anyone to follow."

Valerie nodded and then led her daughter over to the slowly flowing stream a couple feet away. I pulled Valerie's backpack over my shoulder, keeping the clothes they just took off in my hands, and began walking in the other direction. I made my way closer to town, being sure to catch the clothing in my hands on tree branches or bushes every now and then—doing my best to create a false trail. I just hoped there wouldn't be any trace of my own scent on the trail.

It was almost 6:30 by the time I emerged from the woods onto the paved, concrete sidewalk of Main Street. Being so early in the morning—on a Saturday no less—the street was deserted. It kind of reminded me of the way a street looks right before the zombies attack in movies. At the first trash can I dumped Valerie and Kelsey's old clothes and then headed down towards the docks. I tapped the outside of the pocket of my dress, feeling for the jet-ski key again—the plan would completely fall apart if I lost it. But it was there.

When I reached the docks, I glanced around me to see if anyone was watching. But I didn't have to worry—there was no one there—the only people who would be up this early on a Saturday would be fishermen, and they would already be out on the ocean. Remembering where Brad had taken me last week, I counted the platforms until I reached the fifth dock and turned down it. Had it really only been a week ago that Brad stole me away from Jet at the adoption agency? It felt like ages ago. So much had changed since then.

My eyes scanned the vehicles attached to the dock. Crap. There were a lot of jet-skis. Which one was Brad's? He had taken me to the end of the dock, but he hadn't park it in the same place when we came back that day. And who knows if he had taken it for a ride earlier this week? If I hadn't been so concerned with blocking the memory of having fun with Brad then I might have remembered more about the event—like the colors on the jet-ski in question.

I mentally cursed myself. I should have realized this might happen. I should have gone down to the docks yesterday to make sure I knew what jet-ski it was. Hell, for all I knew, the jet-ski might not even be there anymore. Brad, or someone else in his family, could have had a spare key and taken it for an early morning ride.

I shook my head. No, I couldn't think like that. Valerie and Kelsey were relying on me. It had to be here, and if it wasn't I would just have to figure something else out—it couldn't be that hard to steal a zodiac, could it?

I pulled the jet-ski key out of my pocket and studied it. There was a small symbol on it. I ran back down the line of jet-skis—that same symbol had to be on Brad's jet-ski. I halted when I came across a white and blue one with the same symbol at the edge of one of the jet-skis stripes. That had to be it.

I hopped on, swinging my leg over the middle, and put the key in the ignition. _Please work_, I thought. The rumble of an engine starting confirmed that I had the right jet-ski. I smiled as I carefully maneuvered the jet-ski away from the dock.

I sped over the smooth water toward the cliff where I knew the stream let out—there were hardly any waves this early—in some places the water looked like a glass surface. Ten minutes later I noticed two specks standing on shore. I slowed the jet-ski to stop, only daring to get as close to the small cliff as possible.

"It's okay!" I called to Valerie and Kelsey, "It's safe to jump!" The cliff wasn't nearly as high as the one I found myself standing on the edge of last spring when Jet and I had chased the siren to the ocean.

Valerie waved to me in response and then whispered something to Kelsey before she threw herself over the edge. A second later, she hit the water with a small splash. When her head popped up she yelled to her daughter, "Okay, Kels. I'm right here, hon!" Kelsey looked nervous, her hands clutching the shirt I'd given her. But she closed her eyes and jumped just as her mother did. A couple seconds later, she emerged from the surface of the water and swam to her mother. The two slowly made their way over to the jet-ski. When they reached me, I helped Kelsey on first and then slid myself into the water as Valerie pulled herself up to the seat.

Once in the water I removed my dress. "I put a map in the small compartment on the right there," I pointed, "I marked all the towns with public docks that are within the gas mileage of the jet-ski. You can get off at any of those and then get a taxi or bus to anywhere you'd like from there."

Valerie smiled at me. "Thank you," she said, "Seriously, thank you. You have no idea how much this means to us."

I smiled back at her. "You're more than welcome. Anything I can do to help you to freedom."

Valerie glanced back at her daughter—just the look of her face told me how important this escape was to Kelsey's future. Her eyes found mine again before she turned the key to start the engine again. I shifted into my dolphin form and watched as Valerie put the jet-ski in gear and drive away.

Ducking under the surface of the water, I swam towards my hidden beach. I smiled on the inside as I swam—I had just helped change the lives of two people—today was off to a good start.


	25. Prey

**I feel like I am constantly repeating myself, but THANK YOU for the AMAZING reviews! Is it too much to say that I love you guys? Because I do, haha :) **

When I reached the beach that Bella and I usually swam near, I shifted back and climbed out of the water. I didn't even bother to put on my soaking wet dress though. I simply shifted into my wolf form and took off running through the woods.

I didn't get far.

I barely reached a comfortable, steady pace when I was forced to stop dead in my tracks. Standing in a line and blocking my path was none other than the entire clan—Geoff, Rebekka, Tanner, Brett, Bryn…Henry and Stephen.

Crap, crap, triple crap. If Henry and Stephen were back that meant…

"Is this the double shifter?" A deep, unfamiliar voice bounced off the trees. Emerging from the shadows behind Geoff and Brett was a man on horseback. He had long blonde but graying hair that was tied back in a ponytail and was flanked on either side by a mountain lion. The mountain lions seemed to be guarding the man on the horse. My dad was a mountain lion—had he been a guard for the chief before he faked his death and ran away from the tribe?

There was no doubt about it—this man was the chief I had feared so much. But now, actually getting to look at him didn't make him seem so terrifying. In fact, his hairstyle and attire made me want to burst out laughing—he looked like he'd just come from the set of some Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

Geoff shifted back into his human form to answer the chief. "Yes sir," he responded. I quickly noticed how the tone of his voice and his back seemed to straighten when he addressed the chief. Hmm, maybe I shouldn't throw the "fearing-the-chief" thing out the window so quickly.

"What is your name?" the chief asked, staring me down with questioning, brown eyes that were anything but warm.

I shuddered under his gaze. Yeah, definitely don't forget the fear thing. This was the man who had driven my dad to fake his own death and for Jet's mom and Valerie to run away. Despite being afraid of the man, I didn't shift back.

"Marina, sir," Geoff answered for me quickly, glancing nervously in my direction.

The chief nodded once. "I can see that she can turn into a wolf, but what is the second animal she can turn into?"

"Rebekka has reported that she's seen the girl shift into a dolphin as well," Geoff said.

"Interesting," the chief said softly. He directed the horse forward, closer to me, never once taking his eyes off me. He looked at me like I was an early Christmas present or something—it creeped me out. "How old is she?"

"Sixteen," Geoff told him, "but she'll be seventeen soon. Her birthday is in January."

My eyes widened as I looked over in Geoff's direction. How did he know that?

"Henry told me she is Mark Keller's daughter. Is this true?" the chief asked, still studying me.

"Yes, sir," Geoff said again.

"So Mark Keller is alive," the chief said, his eyes narrowing at me slightly, "Interesting."

Something about the way the chief said the word "interesting" irked me.

"Where is Mark now?" the chief asked, finally managing to tear his attention away from me and over to Geoff instead.

"Right here."

Everyone's heads snapped to the space on my right. Out of the trees walked my dad in human form, followed by a black wolf, a tiger and finally an owl overhead. Jet—how could I have forgotten? I told him he could come bring a search party if I didn't return in two hours. The only thing was that I knew my two hours weren't up yet—at least not for another half an hour or so—but I didn't care, I had never been so thankful that he didn't listen to me.

Jet immediately came to stand on my left while Cole stationed himself on my right. My dad occupied the remaining space between me and the chief. The tension bounced from person to person like sound waves.

"Mark," the chief smiled with only half his mouth, "back from the dead."

"That was your assumption, Sebastian," my dad stated, his voice sounding as if someone had dunked it in an ice bucket.

The chief's calculating eyes stared down my dad for a minute. "Believe me. I won't make that mistake again," he said finally.

"I should hope not," my dad said simply, "some say that repetition of mistakes is a form of stupidity."

The chief's eyes widened slightly before narrowing at my dad once more. Beside him, the two mountain lion guards growled at us.

Wow. And I thought my dad and Geoff hated each other—that was nothing compared to the hatred seeping from both my dad and the chief.

"What are you doing here, Sebastian?" my dad asked.

"Don't ask useless questions, Mark," the chief said, "Some say ignorance is a form of stupidity." He smiled. "You know exactly why I'm here."

"The answer is no," my dad said immediately—it was almost as if his voice reached out and bit the chief.

"I wasn't asking you," the chief responded, his eyes moving past my dad and back to me.

"She's my daughter," my dad said firmly, "and I say she's not going anywhere."

Go? Go where? To the tribe? No way.

"True, but I'm afraid the decision isn't up to you, Mark," the chief said, his voice chillingly even. It was as if he knew he would get what he wanted one way or another.

"The hell it isn't up to me," my dad spat, his voice rising, "You are not taking _my daughter_."

The chief dismounted the horse so that he and my dad were at eye level. "Just because she is your daughter does not mean that you have a claim over her," the chief said, "as a double shapeshifter she belongs to the entire shapeshifter community—the largest gathering of which just so happens to be the tribe."

"Marina doesn't belong to anyone!" my dad shouted, "And you only have the largest gathering of shapeshifters because you invite people in but never let anyone leave!" My dad glared at the chief with something more than hatred in his eyes.

"Everyone living in the tribe is perfectly happy with their life!" the chief yelled back, his nostrils actually flaring.

_Bang!_

The sound echoed across the trees and was louder than anything I had ever heard before—well, everything except for gunshot my dad fired at me when I was nine.

In front of me, Brett let out a sickening roar. My full attention immediately snapped to him where I saw his paw was gripping his shoulder. When he pulled his paw away, I noticed a thick, dark liquid dripping from his brown fur—blood. Brett was shot.

I frantically looked around for the source of the bullet that was now lodged in Brett's flesh but I couldn't see anything. I sniffed the air.

Another bullet flew past us—narrowly missing Henry's head. My dad shifted into his mountain lion form and Geoff shifted into his black panther.

We had to get out of here—we had to run. I turned to do just that when I noticed several people step out of the trees—several people holding rifles—hunters. I turned the other way only to see more hunters emerging. They were everywhere.

Things got worse.

Behind the shifters of the clan, a group of ten or more hunter appeared and charged us. Everyone scattered.

The mountain lion guards, Geoff, and even Brett with a bullet still in him turned to fight the oncoming hunters. On my right, Cole and my dad were already fighting two hunters. I looked up just in time to see Rebekka flying away with a fox—Tanner—in her talons. I wanted to shout to Skye to go with them—to get out of here—but she didn't. I watched, fear gripping my heart, as my little sister swooped down to attack the hunter my dad was fighting with.

I frowned to myself. The only one not in animal form was the chief. He simply stood in the center of it all, surveying the fight.

Jet nudged my side, whining. I swung my head around. He jerked his head to an opening. We could get out of here. I glanced back at my family. I couldn't leave them.

But then, all of a sudden there was no way for me to get to my family because at least five hunters blocked my path and began closing in. I was about to turn and run with Jet when the chief—still in human form—threw himself between us and the hunters.

What?

The chief's form caused the hunters to pause for a second—clearly they were just as confused as I was—but then they continued forward. That was when I noticed the chief was smiling.

I never would have believed what happened in the next couple seconds had I not seen it with my own eyes. I watched in amazement as the chief assumed his animal form. I couldn't believe what stood in front of me was real.

The animal was taller than a horse, had thick, rough-looking skin like an iguana only it was a blackish-purple color, talons that had to be at least half a foot long, oh yeah and giant, leathery bat wings.

There was a reason he was the chief—a big, fat, gigantic, _humongous_ reason.

The chief was a dragon.

When he roared, blue flames burst from his mouth.

The chief was a _fire-breathing_ dragon.

No amount of "craps" was going to cover it this time—no, this one required something stronger.

_Oh shit_, I thought.

**CelticH2O: Sorry to call you out again, but that was definitely the longest review I have ever received haha. Don't worry though, I definitely appreciated it. I just wanted to let you know that you aren't the only one who considered the possible brother connection between Marina and Brad. The way I think of it is if the prophecy was made 2,000 years ago then the first shapeshifters had to be at least 4,000 years ago, so it's not like they're actually related. Besides, since Marina and Jet are both shapeshifters then that means they are closer in heritage than Marina and Brad because they would have both descended from Luka's side. Anyway, I just wanted to ease your worries there a bit. I honestly love how you stop to consider these kinds of things. You are awesome (but actually). Thanks again for the super long review.**


	26. Lesson Not Learned

**Thank you soooo much to everyone who reviewed! You guys are the best! Here is the moment many of you have been waiting for… ;)**

My body seemed to be stuck in shock. My brain was functioning—well, more like it was running at hyper-speed—but the connection between my brain and my body seemed to be severed. I knew I should run—that was one of the many things my mind was screaming at me—I even wanted to run. But I couldn't.

The chief was a dragon. _A dragon_. A freakin' _fire-breathing _dragon. Holy hell crap.

Everything was starting to make sense now: why so many people feared him, why he was the only shapeshifter not in his animal form when the clan approached me, _why he was the chief_. If a guy like that wanted power I wouldn't be the one to stand in his way, that's for sure. That had to be why my dad, Jet's mom and Valerie all had to leave the tribe secretly. If they hadn't they would have had to talk to the chief about leaving and then what would they do if he said they couldn't leave? Fight him? I don't think so—no one in their right mind would take those odds.

Despite the fight that surrounded me, I couldn't help but stare at the giant, believed-to-be mythical creature that stood before me. The chief used his clawed hand to simply swat at the few feeble attempts the hunters made to attack him. For now at least, I was glad he was on my side. Anyone could see that the hunters were sorely outmatched—no one man stood a chance against the chief. This was something they quickly realized. Any extra hunter that had been fighting another shapeshifter turned their attention on the chief—so that everyone but the chief had a one to one match.

At least twenty hunters advanced on the chief, with Jet and I still cowering in fear—of whether the hunters or the dragon I wasn't sure anymore—behind him. I felt Jet tugging at my fur but I was still frozen in place. More shots rang out—hitting the chief—but they seemed to cause him no more pain than a baseball to the gut would. The sound of gunfire woke me—bridging the gap between my mind and body.

We had to get out of here.

I turned to run but only managed to turn my body ninety degrees before my feet were once again glued to the ground. Across the fight—through the people and the animals and the cries and the gunshots—my eyes locked with a pair of pale blue ones. The kind of color you picture the sky to be behind a picturesque snowflake from a preschool weather chart—fierce, full, and penetrating like a silver dagger to the heart.

Brad.

The chief let out another blasting breath of blue flame, literally charring one of the hunters, but the surge of heat hardly registered inside of me. Instead, every single one of my senses was tuned into one person: Brad.

He walked towards me, moving through the chaos of the fight as if it were simply an elegant ballroom and each shapeshifter and hunter were a dance pair. Jet pulled at my fur again. No doubt he could see it now. No doubt he recognized the hunter stalking towards us as the same guy he had come to despise over the past couple weeks. As the same guy that I once despised for purposely driving a wedge between me and my one true love, but who, even now, walked towards me with a rifle in hand and with every intent of carefully placing a bullet in my brain, I couldn't find room in my heart to hate. Because that was the truth. I didn't hate him, and I didn't think I could ever hate him again.

It wasn't until Brad made it around the chief and all the hunters still trying to bring him down did I run. Just as we had that day when the hunters first attacked, Jet and I ran together, with Brad on our heels. The trees were blurred in my vision and the fallen leaves crunched beneath my paws as we ran. My ears were exclusively tuned into Brad's pounding footsteps behind me, but I wasn't scared. Once we had escaped the nerve-racking intensity of the fight, it was almost as if Jet and I were simply out there on our own, racing through the trees like always.

Except of course, it was Brad with a gun that chased us, not each other. But, at the same time, Jet and I knew these woods better than anyone, and there were at least a dozen places we could hide or get away. At that moment, we were headed straight for the sea cliffs, but that didn't matter, we still had time to take a detour.

Beside me, Jet pushed his legs harder, faster, and I met his pace. The only problem was that Brad was somehow able to keep up. No matter how fast we ran, the sound of Brad's feet behind us never softened. Faster, we had to go faster.

We were moving so fast that I was afraid that if I looked anywhere but straight ahead I would trip over my own feet. I didn't dare look down—I knew my feet would seem like no more solid that than the hazy trees we flew past.

I pulled ahead of Jet slightly, so he would see to follow me as I made a sharp cut right. Brad was going to have a hard time following us now.

I spoke too soon.

Seconds after making the turn, my path was blocked by a giant cloud of smoke and flame that rose as high as the start of the branches on the surrounding trees. The booming sound of the explosive echoed in my ears as I skidded to a halt just in time. I threw Jet a quick glance before we turned and ran back the way we came. Brad was even closer behind us—I swore I could hear his labored breaths.

Where had that explosive come from? Had the hunters set that up? There was a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

A few seconds later Jet cut left and I followed him. We had only take a few steps when there was another head-pounding boom and a cloud of black smoke and fire appeared in front of us. We immediately stopped—our paws sliding forward a bit under the dead leaves—and I could feel a blast of heat hit me almost like we'd been slammed with a second round of explosions that made the whiskers on my snout singe. A small part of me had expected the explosive that time but I was still caught off guard.

Jet and I backed away from the fire, retracing our steps. We ran straight—with Brad literally right behind us—he was so close my nose could distinguish the different scents the various fabrics of his clothing let off. We were heading straight for the cliffs—and not the ones you could jump off of and hope to survive. The sinking feeling in my stomach grew.

It was a trap.

Brad wanted us to run to the cliffs. He had set off those explosives. He knew we would have nowhere to go. He knew he would have us.

Jet seemed to realize the same thing, but there was nothing we could do about it. All we could do was keep running.

When the soft dirt turned to rock beneath our paws, we slowed down. And when we saw where that rock disappeared completely we stopped and turned to meet Brad.

He calmly stepped out in the open, rifle in hand, as if he were simply there to sign a peace treaty. But he wasn't. The war wasn't over—it had barely begun—and I had a feeling it was far from over.

Brad studied us, his gaze lingering on my figure before they flicked over to Jet. "I would thank you for the souvenir you left me with last time we met but I'm not going to. I'd rather just return the favor…" Brad smiled and removed the mask from his face, his eyes never leaving Jet, "…_John_."

Beside me I noticed Jet take a small step backwards—I wasn't sure if he was more surprised to see Brad or to discover that Brad knew who he was.

"Oh yes," Brad said, "I know. I've known for a little while now. In fact, you might want to do a better job of protecting your secret." Brad shrugged. "Not that it'll matter from now on."

That was when I stepped forward, growling at Brad. We'd had a deal. I would stay away from Jet if Brad kept Jet's identity a secret and promised not to hurt him. Well, not that Brad knew that the other wolf beside Jet was the person he had made that deal with.

Brad turned his attention to me, his eyes narrowing. "Now, I am curious about you though," he said, "Somehow, you've managed to elude me. Who are you?"

I didn't move. It was Jet's turn to growl at Brad. But Brad simply laughed. He raised his gun and clicked the round into place, aiming it directly at my head.

He stared at Jet and said, "Back off, or I _will_ shoot her."

Jet stopped growling but stayed where he was beside me. I still didn't move. When my dad disguised himself as a hunter all those years ago, I never thought I would actually find myself in that situation. But there I was—a gun to my head, my life threatened in exchange for my greatest secret.

Brad was watching me again. "I _will_ shoot you," he said, frowning at me. He fired a shot at my feet. I jumped back a bit but still didn't give him what he wanted. "Change! Or the next one's going in your head!"

There was no question about what I would do. I had learned this lesson a long time ago. Even if your own life is threatened, you do not reveal yourself to be a shapeshifter. My dad had made that very clear—and that was why I simply stayed where I was, staring at Brad, waiting for him to pull the trigger.

But he didn't. He looked at me curiously. "You don't care if I shoot you or not, do you?" he asked, but I knew it was merely a rhetorical question—he didn't actually expect me to answer. "You would die before you showed me your identity. But, I wonder what you would do…" He studied me for a moment before he turned his gun off of me, "…if I shot him." Brad swung the gun on Jet and I froze. "If you don't change I will shoot him, right here, right now. And I _won't_ miss."

I took a sharp breath in. I couldn't let him kill Jet. I hadn't just spent over a week in emotional hell to have Jet still end up dead. I loved Jet.

"Last chance," Brad said, staring me down, "Reveal yourself or John dies." I locked eyes with Brad—the corner of his lip was turned up ever so slightly—he had me and he knew it. I would die to save Jet.

There was one lesson my dad never thought to teach us. Perhaps it was a lesson that couldn't be taught. No matter what, I would always make the same choice.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath in and shifted.


	27. Change of Heart

**THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! I think this is the most reviews I've ever gotten for one chapter…maybe I should end with huge cliffhangers more often ;) Just kidding, I'll try not to do that again (at least for awhile). Anyway, thank you thank you thank you to everyone for all the amazing reviews, especially to those who hadn't reviewed before. Here are the answers to many of your wonderful questions. Enjoy :)**

I was afraid to open my eyes. I wanted to pretend Brad wasn't there as long as possible. If I kept my eyes closed, Brad wasn't standing right in front of me, he didn't have a gun, and he hadn't just witnessed me transform from a wolf to human again. As long as I kept my eyes closed everything was fine.

But I couldn't stay blind forever. I had to face him. Maybe…maybe things would be alright. I had to believe that.

Finally, I opened my eyes, letting the colors of the forest and cliffs—and Brad—flood my vision. I barely realized I was shaking with fear of how he would react.

He was staring at me. His eyes traveled up and down the length of my body, finally coming to rest on my face. It was as if he couldn't believe that my face was attached to this body—a body that had been a wolf only a moment ago. The longer he stared the wider his eyes became and the more his grip on the gun loosened. He seemed to be unconsciously lowering his gun—was that a good sign?

He didn't say anything. His mouth opened and closed like he wanted or needed to say something but couldn't. He just stared. The silence between us seemed to echo off of the surrounding cliffs.

Something had to be done. Someone had to say something. We couldn't just stand here staring forever—another hunter might find us—and do something other than stare.

I opened my mouth. "Brad—"

But that one word seemed to ignite something inside Brad, and, suddenly he wasn't just staring at me, he was seeing me. The only problem with him actually seeing me was that I found myself nose to nose with the end of his rifle once more.

"No," Brad said, his voice harsh but strangled, "No—"

"Brad—" I tried again.

"No!" he shouted, his voice firmer, "No, don't." He looked away from me to Jet, who was still a wolf, for the first time and then back to me. "No, this isn't possible."

"Brad," I said gently, "it's me."

Brad shook his head. "This is impossible." He frowned at me. "I—I checked you. When I discovered what John was, you were the first person I considered to be the other wolf. But when I looked to see if you had the multicolored light around you there was nothing there. I don't understand. Every other animal like you has that light surrounding its frame. That was how I was sure John was one."

"They're called auras," I said.

"What?" Brad said, studying me.

"The lights around our bodies," I explained, "they're called auras."

"Oh," he responded, "But you didn't have one when I looked. That was why I told you about John, why I told you to stay away from him."

"I didn't have an aura?" It was my turn to frown. "Do I have one now?"

Brad's eyes narrowed slightly and then widened again. "Yes." He sounded disappointed.

"Brad," I started, trying to ease him into what I was going to say, "John and I, we, we need to get out of here. Will you please let us leave?"

"No," he said firmly. There was something else in his voice this time—something harsher—something that hadn't been there before. He was a hunter, and, suddenly I could see why. It wasn't that cocky smile of his or his self-sureness—it wasn't even his impeccable aim—it was something inside him. He was born to hunt shapeshifters.

"Please, Brad," I tried again, "just let us go. It's me. Marina. Please."

"No," he cut me off before I could say anything else—the glint in his eye striking me with fear, "You're a monster."

I hugged my hands close to my chest, taking a breath. Staring into his blue eyes, I said, "You know that's not true. It was me—I was the dolphin that saved you during that storm. I wasn't going to let you drown…and I never will." His eyes widened a bit as I took a step closer to him—the end of his gun pressed against the bare skin of my collar bone. "Yesterday you told me that you thought you had had it wrong all these years—that maybe shapeshifters weren't the monsters you always thought they were. Do you really think I'm a monster?"

He held my gaze but didn't say anything. His gun remained where it rested against my shoulder.

I continued. "I also told you yesterday that I thought I had been wrong about you. Please, Brad, let me be wrong."

His eyes stayed locked with mine. I watched his façade fade away to reveal the Brad I had come to know—the Brad I cared for. I smiled softly at him.

"Do you have feelings for me?" Brad asked.

What? The question caught me off guard—I hadn't been expecting it. "I—I—" I couldn't help but stutter. What was I supposed to say? The way he was looking at me, I couldn't be sure what he wanted me to say. I took a deep breath in, trying to forget what was happening in the woods around me. It was almost as if we had traveled back in time and it was just the two of us on his balcony. As I stared into Brad's eyes I knew what I had to do. I had to tell him the truth. I had to tell him exactly how I felt. "Yes," I whispered.

The edge of his lips turned up in a slight smile and he finally lowered his gun. "Go," he told me, then, glancing at John, he added, "both of you. Go now before someone else finds you. Run along the cliffs until you reach a road and stay on that road. It doesn't matter what road it is, just stay on it. We won't be patrolling anywhere near town."

I nodded. "Thank you," I said as sincerely as I could.

"Go," he said.

I shifted back into my wolf form and moved towards Jet. I turned my head back to look at Brad once more. This time when he looked at me I didn't see hate, instead, I only saw wonder.

"Go," he said again.

I slowly followed Jet along the edge of the cliff away from Brad. He didn't kill me—he didn't even try. And he cared about me, maybe even loved me. I liked to think that wasn't the only reason he let us go, but, I'm sure it played a big role in it. Still, it didn't matter. I had showed Brad that shapeshifters weren't the monsters he thought they were. I had solved one problem…but, I realized as I watched Jet's wolf form move forward, I had created another one. I had admitted to Brad, right there in front of Jet, that I had some kind of feelings for him. What would happen now? Would Jet and I be okay? What about Brad and I? I felt like I didn't know anything anymore. But, I did know one thing—I didn't have to worry about Brad hunting and killing me. I breathed a sigh of relief. Jet and I were okay. We were alive.

My relief froze over, turning into fear, at the sound of another voice.

"What are you doing?!" a slightly familiar female voice shouted.

My head swiveled around to see another hunter standing a few yards away from Brad.

"They're both one of them!" the hunter yelled to Brad, "Shoot them!"

Brad looked from me to the other hunter. He didn't know what to do.

"What are you waiting for?!" the woman demanded. Suddenly I realized who the voice belonged to—Brad's mom. Here was the woman who had asked me to help her bake cookies in her kitchen and now she was telling her son to kill me.

When Brad didn't move, Helen stalked up to him and raised her own gun—pointing it directly at me.

"Wait!" Brad started, putting a hand on his mom's shoulder, "She's not—"

But it was too late. His mom wasn't interested in what he had to say. She pulled the trigger.

That was when I discovered slow motion exists in real life—only you can't stop what you know is about to happen—because even though you can see everything, your body is still just as slow as everything else.

When I saw Helen's freshly manicured finger pull the trigger of the gun towards her, I watched curiously as a silver bullet with a rounded tip emerged from the end of the gun. I didn't hear anything. I followed the movement of the spiraling bullet as flew through the air towards me. I felt like I could simply reach out and tap it away with my finger, but I knew I was too slow. It came closer and closer, until…that was when I heard the bang of the gun.

And suddenly I couldn't see the bullet anymore and everything was back to normal speed. Where did it go? I frowned. I looked back to Brad and his mom. Helen was smiling. Brad's eyes were wide with fear and…hate? I blinked. Was that right? Why did Brad have hate in his eyes? I blinked again but soon closed my eyes once more.

I struggled to reopen my eyes. When I did, I saw Brad take a step behind his mom and hit her over the head with the butt of his gun. What was he doing? And where had that bullet gone? My eyes took another long blink.

_Oh no_, I thought, _Jet_! Did the bullet hit Jet?

I tried to turn around quickly but my legs wouldn't let me. I frowned again. What was wrong with my legs? They felt like I had just run a thousand miles. They felt like jell-o. In fact, my whole body felt like jell-o. And, somehow, the fur on my chest felt heavy with liquid. But we hadn't been anywhere near the stream…what—? My eyes closed again. I was tired. Maybe I should rest. My body sank down onto the cool rock—it felt nice against my wet fur. I tried to take a deep breath in but the air caught—my chest tightening in pain.

That was when I knew where the bullet had gone. Inside me.

"Marina!"

I heard Brad's shout of anguish but didn't move.

"Marina!"

Jet's voice echoed Brad's. Hmm, he must have shifted back.

"Marina!" they both yelled again. They were so loud—it sounded like they were screaming in my ear. I forced my eyes open to find both Jet and Brad kneeling over me.

Brad pressed a hand to the wet spot on my chest while Jet reached a hand out and brushed the fur on the top of my head back. "Marina," Jet said urgently, "you have to shift back."

Shift back? Nah—that sounded like too much work—I was tired. I needed to rest.

"Marina, please, you'll heal if you shift back," Jet pleaded, "shift back!"

Gosh, fine. I'll try.

"No!" Brad said frantically.

"She needs to," Jet argued, "if she shifts the wound will heal itself, she'll be okay."

"It won't," Brad said, "The bullets prevent any healing."

"What do you mean?" Jet insisted.

"If she shifts with that bullet inside her will recognize the change and explode into a hundred pieces that will lodge themselves inside her body," Brad explained.

"The bullet can recognize the change?" Jet asked, "How is that possible?"

"I don't know."

"Well, what do we do then? We can't let her bleed out!" Jet said anxiously.

"We have to get the bullet out. If we get the bullet out first then she can shift back and we can take here to a hospital," Brad said quickly.

"Fine, let's do it," Jet said.

Brad removed his black t-shirt and rolled it into a cylinder shape. "Marina," he said, "I'm going to put this in your mouth. Just bite down on it as hard as you can whenever you feel any pain." Very carefully, he leaned forward and placed the t-shirt between my jaws.

"What do you need me to do?" Jet asked.

Brad glanced up at him. "This is going to be extremely painful for her. I'm probably going to need you to hold her down."

I closed my eyes. Maybe I should just let sleep take over.

"Marina?" Brad's frenzied voice reached me and pulled me back to the waking world, "Marina, I need you to stay with me. You got that? You need to stay awake."

I didn't open my eyes again but I gave him the slightest of nods.

"Okay, you ready?" Brad asked Jet.

"Yes, let's get this over with."

I felt Brad's fingers in my fur. And then, despite the rolled up t-shirt in my mouth, I screamed.

I screamed until the darkness behind my eyelids became too much and my body succumbed to the black hole sleep.


	28. Departed

**Happy New Year everyone and thank you for all the reviews! Unfortunately, Marina's new year isn't off to such a good start…**

My eyes fluttered open. I didn't know where I was. All I knew was that I was alive—or, at least I thought I was. My vision was hazy, like I was attempting to drive through dense fog without any lights. There was one thing I was sure of—it was dark out, which meant it was night, which meant a significant number of hours had passed since I had been in the woods with Jet and Brad.

The fog around my vision began to clear and that was when I noticed there was someone next to me. Brad.

He leaned in closer to me, but I could barely see him—the fog was coming back. "I love you," he whispered. The fog took over and I fell back into a deep sleep.

Later, I would think I had been dreaming.

When I woke again my vision was normal—everything was clear. It was light out and I quickly realized I was in a hospital room.

"Marina?" a voice next to me asked softly.

I turned my head to see my mom sitting in a chair beside my bed.

"Oh, Marina!" she exclaimed and then gently ran a hand through my brown hair. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess," I said, shifting into more of a sitting position and causing a sharp pain to travel down my side. "Kind of achy and…dizzy."

My mom smiled sadly at me. "That's the pain medication."

"Mom," I started, "What happened?"

"You were shot, honey," she said, clearly on the brink of tears, "John and your friend brought you to the hospital."

"My friend?"

"Yes, that boy with the blond hair."

I looked away. Brad. So he had been here.

"Honey, how much does he know?" my mom asked tentatively.

I glanced back at my mom. I knew she wasn't going to be happy with what I was about to tell her. "Everything," I whispered.

My mom didn't say anything, she just looked at me nervously and bit down on her bottom lip—I guess that was where I got that habit.

"Mom, what about everyone else?" I asked, "Cole, Skye, Dad? They're all okay, right? And the clan too?"

"Your brother, sister and father are all fine," my mom said, "Just a few scratches and bruises each."

I breathed a sigh of relief. My family was safe. The hunters hadn't gotten them. "What about all the others?"

My mom's head drooped a bit. "Brett…and Bryn didn't make it."

I was silent for a bit. Brett and Bryn. I hadn't known them but they'd seemed so happy and had such a nice life to look forward to together. After a minute or two, I looked up to my mom again and asked, "Is Dad here? I want to see him."

My mom continued to bite down on her lip. She didn't answer me.

"Mom?" I asked again, my voice rising, "Where's Dad?"

"They took him."

"Who? The hunters?"

She shook her head.

"Then who?"

"The tribe," she said finally.

"The tribe?" I repeated, "Why?"

I heard my mom take a deep breath to steady herself. "When the chief found out that you'd been shot, he demanded that you be taken back to the tribe where you'd be safe. But your father knew it wasn't your safety that was his main priority. Sebastian only wanted to have you in his control. He, and many other shapeshifters, think…they think that you are the one a very important prophecy refers to."

"Am I?"

"Your father believes so, and I have to agree with him. That was why he didn't want anyone knowing you could turn into more than one animal," my mom explained, "When you turned into a dolphin that day on the beach, your father knew immediately what it meant. He showed me the prophecy and we both swore that we would protect you no matter what. And not because you are this "one of many forms", but because you are our daughter and we never want any kind of harm to come to you." My mom was fighting back tears now. "We didn't want this for you, honey—none of it—the hunters, the tribe. All we wanted was for you to have a normal life…well, as normal of a life as possible."

I nodded. I was the one the prophecy spoke of—even my own dad was convinced of that. "But why did the tribe take Dad?"

"When your father found out that the chief intended to take you with him back to the tribe, he confronted the chief, insisting that you remain here with us and explaining that the best thing for you at the moment was to maintain your normal life here," my mom said, "But Sebastian didn't go for it. He wanted you someplace where he could keep a constant eye on you."

"So, I have to leave?" I asked, trembling inside. I couldn't leave my home, my friends, my family.

"No," my mom said firmly but then closed her eyes. When she opened them again, I could see that they were full of tears. "You are staying right here with me."

"But Dad—" I started but my mom cut me off.

"Your father made a deal with Sebastian," my mom clarified, "You can remain here with us and go to school and see your friends—all under the watchful eye of Geoff and his family—Henry and Tanner are even going to enroll in the high school to better watch over you. But…but, in exchange, your father had to return to the tribe to face sentencing and punishment for his crimes."

"His crimes?" I exclaimed, "He didn't do anything wrong!"

My mom looked at me with nothing but pity. "Oh Marina," she said, taking my hand, "Your father faked his own death—even outside the tribe that's illegal."

"So he's going to be punished just because he wanted to be free? That's not right!" I could feel the tears starting to build up in my own eyes.

My mom quickly pulled me into a hug. Flattening my hair against my back, she whispered, "I know, honey, I know. But it was your father's decision. He knew what going back to the tribe meant and he was willing to face the consequences."

I sniffled—the tears had escaped and left a puddle on my mom's left shoulder. "He'll come home, right?"

My mom hugged me tighter. "I don't know," she admitted.

I cried harder. This was all my fault.

A couple hours later, after I'd gotten control of myself and had eaten—not to mention had my bandages changed (which, might I add, was not fun and quite disgusting)—my mom came back into the room to tell me I had a visitor. I expected it to be Brad or Jet—neither of whom I had seen since I'd woken up—but it wasn't. Instead, in the doorway stood Bella, her long blonde hair tied back in a braid.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey."

"How are you?" she asked, "Jet told me what happened."

"Eh," I said, shrugging a bit, "I've been better."

Bella walked into the room and stood at the end of my bed. "I'm so sorry, Marina," she said, "I shouldn't have assumed what I did, I shouldn't have said those things to you. I'm just so sorry for everything."

I gave her a small smile. "It's okay," I said, "You didn't know."

"That's not an excuse," she said, shaking her head, "I should have trusted you. You're my best friend, Marina. I should have talked to you to get the real story before I believed what other people were saying."

I sighed. "You did. You tried to talk to me. But I refused to tell you what was really going on. I was stupid to think I could handle it all on my own. You're my best friend too, Bella, I should have confided in you. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Bella smiled at me, "How about we just both say we're forgiven and get back to being friends?"

I smiled back at her. "Sounds good to me."

"Me too," Bella said, but as she did the smile on her face started to fade.

"Bella?" I asked, "What's wrong?"

She immediately plastered the smile back on her face. "What? Nothing," she said, trying to pretend everything was fine.

"Bella, something's eating at you. I can tell," I said, "What is it? Is it Brad?"

She shook her head, pursing her lips together. "No. I've given up on him," she laughed a bit, "There's no point in trying to pursue someone if they don't feel the same way you do."

I looked down. "I'm sorry about that too," I said, glancing back up at her.

"It's not your fault," she said.

"Still, I wish things could have been different."

"Me too." The looked on Bella's face changed again. It was like what I'd said struck a different meaning with her.

"Bella, seriously, what's wrong?" I asked again.

She opened her mouth to say something but then closed it again. "Marina, I—I wish I didn't have to tell you this."

"What is it? Are you okay?"

"It's my family," Bella said finally, "We're moving…to Australia."

I was speechless. Bella was moving. We had talked about the possibility of her moving again—she had always said her family moves around a lot—but, for some reason, I'd always thought that this would be it, that coming to California would be her last move. I thought she would stay here, at least until we finished high school.

"When are you leaving?" I asked.

"Two weeks," she said.

I swallowed hard. Two weeks? That wasn't a lot of time. But then again there could never be enough time to say goodbye to your best friend.

"I wish we were staying," Bella went on, "I've never felt so close to so many people before. I've never felt like I was really a part of something. I—I've never had a best friend before. I don't want to leave."

"I don't want you to leave either." She walked over to the side and the bed and I pulled her into a hug.

"I'll miss you," she whispered.

"I'll miss you too," I told her. We pulled apart. "But you'll keep in touch, right?"

She smiled. "Of course," she said, "Just because I'll be on the other side of the world doesn't mean you're going to get rid of me."

I laughed. "I wouldn't dream of it," I said, "Maybe I could even come visit you in Australia."

"I would love that," she said, "Can you imagine swimming over the Great Barrier Reef together?"

I smiled even wider. "That's it, I'm sold. I'm definitely coming to visit you."

Bella laughed. "It's a deal."

Just then there was a knock on the door and Jet appeared in the frame. "Hey, Bella," he said, "Do you mind if I talk to Marina alone for a minute?"

"Of course not," Bella said, before turning to me and adding, "I'll see you later."

"Okay," I responded. I watched as Bella walked out of the room, leaving Jet and I alone. The room suddenly felt too small for the amount of people in it.

Jet didn't move away from the doorway. "Brad told me everything," he said.

"Where is he?" I asked, my concern taking over, "Is he okay?"

Jet nodded. "He's fine. He's with his family now—explaining to them where he's been."

I looked down at the blue blanket on the bed. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you," I said. Today seemed to be all about apologies.

"I don't blame you," he said, "I understand why you lied to me. But, Marina, you know me. I could have handled it. _We _could have handled it together."

I shook my head. "I couldn't take that risk. If Brad got any kind of hint that you knew anything, he would have had you killed—or killed you himself."

We were both silent for a minute.

We Jet spoke again, his voice was soft—as if he didn't want to say what he was about to. "About…about what happened there—back on that cliff—"

I looked up at him.

"You were telling him the truth, weren't you?" he asked, "About having feelings for him?"

My breath caught in my throat. I had hoped that we wouldn't have this conversation—that we could just forget it ever happened, that any of it happened—and just go back to the way we were before.

"Yes," I admitted.

Jet closed his eyes and took a deep breath in and out before opening them again. Meeting my gaze, he asked, "Do you love him?"

I stared at Jet, into his green eyes—a color that I was sure was unique to only him—something that always stood as a reminder of my love for him. But just because I loved him didn't mean I could lie to him. I was done with lying. "I don't know," I whispered, but I was loud enough for him to hear. And, like always, he knew I wasn't lying.

He stared at me for another moment before answering. "Well," he started slowly, "I think that, until you figure it out, it would be best if we took a break."

I bit my lip to keep my tears from spilling out. I nodded—knowing I couldn't open my mouth without breaking down.

Jet then looked away and walked back out the door.

That was when I let it go. I let go of my lip and gasped for air as the tears streamed down my face.

Everything I did this past week not to lose Jet didn't matter—in the end, I had lost him anyway.


	29. Close Encounter

**Thank you soooo much to everyone who reviewed! Also, thanks for all the suggestions. I will have to keep them in mind for the third story (I've already started planning it out and I cannot wait to share it with you guys)! Anyway, here is the second to last chapter of ****_Secrets in the Woods of California_****. Enjoy! :)**  
I was bored. No—scratch that—_I was bored out of my mind_. I found myself pacing from one end of our back deck to the other, probably around one hundred times. If you thought only cats pace that much, you're wrong. Apparently so can wolves. I felt like a caged animal—which, come to think of it—I kind of was.  
I wanted to do something. It was the last day of summer and I definitely didn't want to spend it sitting around. The worst part was, was that all of my friends had had the same idea, and they had already made plans to not sit around. The problem—none of those plans included me.  
Grace was getting her hair cut. Tommy had gone to the beach with his family for the day. Hailey was at her cousin's house. Annie had a dentist appointment. Even my own brother and sister were off doing something with their friends.  
It was just me and my mom—who happened to be happily washing dishes and humming to herself in the kitchen. She told me I could help her if I wanted. Obviously, I refused.  
I wanted to do something fun—I wanted to do something cool. Overall, my summer had been a dud, and I knew that tomorrow, every single one of my new seventh grade teachers would ask what I did during my summer vacation. Everyone else would tell stories of the amazing trip they took to Italy, or France, or Florida even, or how they won the roller hockey tournament at camp, or how they got lifeguard and CPR certified, while what did I do? I'll tell you what I did—squat.  
Okay, so that wasn't completely true. I did get to go on a really long hike through the woods with my dad, brother and sister every other weekend. But it wasn't like I could tell my peers that. Nope. That would reveal my secret identity as a shapeshifter. Wow, I sounded like some extremely corny superhero—but, at that point, even pretending to be a superhero like this one group of nerdy guys in my grade would have been cooler than what I was doing.  
So, basically, come tomorrow my peers would see me as the lame girl who sat around all summer and did nothing. And I definitely didn't want that to be my starting reputation in the seventh grade. Today was the last day of summer—I had to come up with something good—and I had to come up with it fast.  
The problem was was that the pacing wasn't helping.  
I firmly planted my feet on the ground—resisting the urge in my legs to keep moving. I couldn't spend my last day of summer walking back and forth across our deck. My eyes scanned the nearby tree line. But…perhaps I could spend it walking through the woods.  
I glanced at the small kitchen window where I could see my mom still washing dishes. She was distracted—not paying any attention to me. I could make a break for it if I wanted to.  
Thing was, strictly speaking, I wasn't allowed to explore the woods on my own. No, according to my dad, that was a privilege granted only to those of fourteen years of age—I was still two years short.  
I glanced back at my mom once more before returning my gaze to the beckoning trees. But then again, maybe I could shift, go explore, and be back before my mom even noticed I was gone.  
Okay, I was going to do it. Without looking back through the kitchen window again, I marched—well, more like snuck—across the backyard to the security of the towering trees. Once I was safely hidden behind one of the trees I breathed a sigh of relief. I quickly undressed, shifted, grabbed my dress and ran.  
I did it. I was free. And, if I didn't get caught then I wouldn't even have to suffer the consequences of my actions. This day suddenly turned from constricting and boring to having endless possibilities and being loads of fun.  
So maybe I still wouldn't have a cool story to tell all my classmates tomorrow, but at that moment I didn't care. All I wanted to do was run, so that was exactly what I did.  
I ran as fast as I could—whipping through the trees like the most experienced downhill skier. I felt utterly and completely free. I didn't have to worry about my dad or Cole or Skye keeping up, or not knowing which way my dad wanted me to go—I could run as fast as I wanted and go wherever I wanted. Man, fourteen couldn't come soon enough.  
By the time I finally stopped, I wasn't sure how much time had passed. I'd heard that people used to be able to tell the time by looking at the sun, but, gazing up at it now, I couldn't tell a thing, other than it was the afternoon.  
I was still staring at the sun when my ears picked up on a sound not normally heard in this part of the woods—a human voice. Without thinking, I followed the sound. I ran through the trees, slowing and crouching behind a bush when I got close.  
There-just a few feet beyond where my hiding place was a boy. He looked to be about my age and was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a Colorado Rockies t-shirt. His hair was a bit on the long and literally the color of the night sky when there is no moon in it-black. But really none of that was special. It was only when he turned in my direction that I saw his eyes. They were gorgeous-a dazzling green unlike anything I'd ever seen-and I'd had seen my fair share of shades of green.  
"Hello?" He called into the trees. I instinctively took a step back but my paw stepped on a fallen branch-the snap sounding like a cannon in the Grand Canyon. "Who's there?" The boy called again, "Please, I need some help."  
Great. He knew I was there. Well, at least he hadn't seen the wolf-I knew because had he he would have already been running. Could this be the adventure I had been craving all day? As quietly as I could, I shifted back into human form and slipped on my dress over my head. When I noticed him looking the other direction I stepped out of my hiding place and into the open.  
"What do you need help with?" I asked and he swiveled around, looking kind of surprised to see me-maybe he hadn't actually thought someone was there? Oh well, too late now.  
"There's an animal stuck in a trap and it's still alive," the boy explained, "but I can't get it out alone without hurting it even more."  
"Where is it?" I asked.  
"Over here," he said and gestured to a clustered section of trees and bushes. I followed him, stopping when I saw the fawn caught in a hunter's trap. What was a hunter's trap doing in these parts of the woods? Hunting was forbidden here because it is too close to residential areas-which was probably where this boy came from. I just hoped he didn't ask me where I came from.  
"It looks terrified," I said, still staring horror stricken at the baby deer. It's back leg was stuck in what looked like an iron shark jaw-blood gushing from the deer's foot. Slowly we both approached the frantic animal.  
"I need you to hold that lever down while trying to keep the deer calm," he said. I shot him a skeptic look. "I realize the keeping calm part might be a bit difficult."  
"You think?" I responded, smiling at him. He was cute-_like really cute_.  
Together we approached the deer. I sat down behind it but made sure it could still see me. I found the lever the boy was talking about and used my right hand to press it down-it took almost all of my strength in my right arm to keep it down. The deer seemed to get more nervous because it began trying to run away, which only caused the trap to dig further into it's skin.  
"Try to keep it calm," the boy said again.  
I reached my left hand over and gently placed it against the deer's belly, running it back and forth over the area. I remember when I was young, my grandparents had a dog named Rover who loved to have his belly rubbed-after two minutes the dog would be passed out. I just hoped that the same could be said for this fawn. And amazingly it could. After a few seconds, I felt the deer's labored breaths beneath me slow to a normal pace. The animal gazed up at me with it's big black eyes, almost as if it knew what I was and was trusting me to keep it safe from further harm.  
"How did you do that?" The boy asked.  
"You told me to keep it calm," I said, my hand still resting on the deer's side.  
"Well, sure, but I didn't expect you to actually beagle to do it."  
I smiled. "I guess I just have the magic touch."  
He looked at me curiously before giving me a small smile back. "Okay," he said, turning back to the deer, "I've almost got it."  
I kept my eye on the baby deer as he pried apart the jaws of the trap. When he got them wide enough the fawn seemed to be able to sense that he was free because he immediately got up and limped away, but not before stopping to look back at me-if he could have talked I would have sworn that he was telling me thank you.  
"Do you think he'll be okay?" I asked still sitting on the ground across from him.  
"Yeah," the boy said.  
I turned my head in his direction and once again I was startled by the brilliance of his green eyes.  
"I'm Marina by the way," I said.  
He turned his gaze on me. "John."  
We both smiled.


	30. The Prophecy

**OVER 100 REVIEWS! WOOHOO! Thank you SOOO much to everyone who reviewed! You guys actually made my day (maybe even week haha). Here is the very last chapter of **_Secrets in the Woods of California._ **As always, enjoy ;)**  
Four days after Jet visited me, I was released from the hospital. While I was there, Skye, Cole, and my mom visited often, and Bella even came back with Tommy one day. None of my other friends could visit because they couldn't know I'd been shot. Instead, Bella told them I'd had my tonsils removed.  
Brad never came to visit me, and Jet didn't come to see me again after he suggested we take a break. While in the hospital, it wasn't hard to pretend that Jet and I were still a couple-and yet, I often found my mind wandering back to those few days I had spent with Brad. For the first time ever, I was questioning whether Jet and I were really meant to be together.  
It was a horrible thought and it scared me more than I cared to admit.  
I loved Jet-I knew I loved him-I was pretty sure I fell in love with him the first day I met him. But, the question was: did I love Brad too? I wasn't sure, but Jet seemed to think so.  
Did I like Brad as a friend? Yes. Did I like him as more than a friend? At the moment, I couldn't say otherwise. But love? Love was different-it was special, something that I was sure existed between only Jet and I...until now.  
I'd heard it's possible to love two people at the same time, and I believe that's true, but I also believe that out of those two people there is always someone you love more. Did I love Brad? If so, then, who did I love more: Brad or Jet?  
That question only made my head, and heart, hurt.  
It was late Thursday night by the time I finally made it home. And, even though everything was exactly as it had been that Saturday morning when I snuck out to help Valerie and Kelsey disappear, nothing was the same-it felt different and I knew exactly why-my dad wasn't there. His absence seemed to bring a solemn silence to the house-it seeped in through the seams and crawled across the walls-following me as I walked through the kitchen, down the hall, and up the stairs to my bedroom.  
"Mom says dinner will be ready in half an hour," Skye said as she placed the backpack with my school work on the floor next to my desk.  
My eyes travelled across all four walls of my bedroom. "Thanks," I said and I gave her a small smile before looking away.  
"You okay?" Skye asked, lingering in my doorway.  
"Yeah," I said, answering her question before even processing what she said, "...No."  
"I know you're not in pain because you're still on those meds," she stated, her eyes following my every move, "Let me guess, it has something to do with a certain someone who's name begins with the letter 'J'?"  
I bit my lip and nodded, not bothering to to turn around-or maybe I simply didn't want my little sister to see me on the verge of tears. God, what was wrong with me? Why had I suddenly turned into one of those girls who cried like a waterfall and wallowed nonstop all because of some guy? I knew exactly why. It was because Jet wasn't just some guy-he was the guy, my guy. I didn't know how I knew it but I just did, we were meant to be together. We used to both be sure of that, but I had ruined that. My uncertainty about Brad had ruined that.  
And then I turned into that girl-I started crying, no, sobbing-like stuffy nose, gasping for air, can't see through your own puffy eyes, sobbing. Had I not had a sense of touch, I wouldn't have known that Skye put her arms around me.  
"Shh, shh," Skye whispered in my ear. So much for trying to stay strong in front of my little sister. "It'll be okay."  
I didn't answer and she didn't say anything else. I don't think she knew what else to say. After a minute or so we both pulled back.  
"Do you need anything?" Skye asked and I shook my head, "Okay, well, I'm going to go see if Mom needs any help with dinner."  
I nodded, wiping my eyes as she left the room. Once I could finally see again, my swollen eyes narrowed in on something sitting innocently on my bed. It looked like a simple folded piece of paper. I slowly walked over to the bed and picked it up. It wasn't just a piece of paper, but a letter with my name scrawled across the front in big, loopy cursive.  
I stared at the envelope as I aimlessly wandered over to the window. I slid my finger in between the paper and ran it along the edge to open the envelope. I looked up from my hands, staring at the backyard below. Like the rest of the house, the green stretch of land below looked exactly the same, but I knew things were different. I was different.  
My dad was gone. Brett and Bryn were dead. I had survived a gunshot wound. Jet had broken up with me. And I was probably in love with two guys.  
My eyes wandered to the edge of the yard where the tall trees met the grass. There, standing just in the shadows, almost completely hidden, was a big black wolf. My breath caught in my throat when our eyes met. We both stared for a minute before he turned his attention to something on his right. A black panther emerged from the trees-Geoff. Of course-my protection detail-how could I have forgotten? I was their precious "one of many forms" and needed to be guarded at all times.  
I watched Jet leave and then walked back over to my bed, staring down at the envelope in my hand. I hadn't recognized the handwriting on the front-I wondered who it was from. There was no tamp or return address, or even an address under my name. Opening the flap on the back of the envelope, I pulled out the letter inside. As I unfolded it, another, smaller, and more worn piece of paper fell onto the bed. The letter in my hands had the same big, loopy cursive that was on the outside of the envelope written in it. It read:  
_Marina,  
I'm sorry it took me so long to get this to you. I ran into some complications with the delivery method. I still can't thank you enough for your help. I truly believe that this opportunity will provide Kelsey with a better life and it is all thanks to you. We are now safely far away from California and the tribe, but, just in case this letter falls into the wrong hands, I won't say where.  
Please tell John that I'm sorry we didn't get the chance to spend more time together. I hope that one day we will meet again and I will be able to share my memories of Deirdre with him. I know that no matter where Deirdre may be, she would be very proud of the man her son has become. Stay safe.  
I have enclosed a copy of the prophecy in this letter. Marina, if you really are the one the prophecy speaks of then you must be careful of who you trust. The chief will stop at nothing to to claim you as his own. I just hope that you don't have to escape as I did. If you do, then all you need to remember is that girls love jeeps. I wish you the best of luck.  
Love,  
Valerie_  
I smiled as I reread Valerie's letter. At least something had turned out right. I glanced down at the smaller piece of paper that had fallen on my bed. The prophecy. After all this time, after weeks spent wondering, I was finally going to find out what the prophecy said. My hands were trembling as I set down Valerie's letter and picked up the piece of paper with the prophecy on it. Very carefully I unfolded the square until I could hold it open in my hands. I looked down and read:

_When red tints Roe, the war of light will begin  
Those of the rainbow will be the first plagued  
Magus will bare them and fill the dark with fear_

_But one of many forms will ascend and change  
the course of fate for a brother Descendant  
Together, the one will lead embracing light to fight_

_Only one can join the sun at dawn_

**The End**

**A million thanks to everyone who wrote reviews for this story. Thank you to **liveonpurpose, CelticH2O, Doveflight, h2ojustaddwaterfan, mayapapaya95, Lauren111, BRADHATER, yourecrazedfan, lunamione13, SageMack, KMT, waterlily2002, samuwel34, owlchasegirl101, Spanarainium, dirkgiles, Gazillionaire, chicagodreams, **and all the guests. Also, thank you to everyone has stuck with Marina since the beginning-she would be nothing without you guys. ~Colette  
The final chapter in Marina's story is about to begin! Here is a sneak peak of what's to come:**  
After weeks of guessing, Marina finally has the prophecy-only to realize she has no idea what it means. With Bella gone, school is unbearable and her inability to choose a guy has made her relationships with Jet and Brad nothing short of icy. On top of that, the tribe still wants her and have become more persistent than ever. In **Secrets Outside of California**, Marina thinks things can't get any worse...but she couldn't be more wrong.


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